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Breathe YOU MATTER Magazine Winter 2023
Written By: Gwen Schrank
A Call To Action Lets Connect
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On July 18th, the City of Visalia took huge steps in securing funding and approval to renovate the Majestic Inn off West Noble Avenue and South Linwood Street into 42 Permanent Supportive housing units? These units will help 42 people who qualify obtain permanent supportive housing. Supportive housing means there will be a variety of supportive services available for people in need. It is not required that the tenants take advantage of the supportive services; however, if they want to use it, they have access.
Majestic INN
The cost to renovate the Majestic Inn was one of the concerns of those in the community. The cost was an estimate$320K per renovated room.
Another concern was even with good intentions; some housing projects lead to unsupervised activities a few years down the line which turns into drugs, crime, and prostitution. Other concerns included the lack of communication between city leaders, community, and businesses surrounding that area. Some people wish they had known about the Request for Proposal and the details of the project so that they could have either rallied in support or against. The feelings of secrecy was a problem for community members and organizations who learned about it on the day of the vote.
During the Visalia City Council Meeting that day, the council members were asked to hold off on the vote until there could be additional options. The vote passed with Mayor Steve Nelsen scolding
attendees saying, “To sit up here and say, ‘Let’s not do it’: It’s a shame. It’s a shame to tell the student at COS, ‘We don’t have housing for you. So, you decide if you’re going to get an education, live on the street or go get a job and don’t get your education.’” Nelsen said. “I’m not going down that path.”
Mayor Nelsen threw some attendees for a loop because we thought this project was for Permanent Affordable Rental Housing to help individuals and families experiencing homelessness to permanent housing through a tailored package of assistance, not for dorms or campus apartments. That’s quite different.
Another side note: At the City Council Meeting on December 5th, 2022 Mayor Nelsen voted against the Warming Center for those who are experiencing homelessness to have a warm place to sleep on cold winter nights at 701 E. Race Ave, Visalia, 93291 at the cost of $1 per month for rent through April 2023. He told other Council Members to start working on a plan for the Warming Center to be located in thier areas for next year because he doesn’t want it to be on the Northeast side of Visalia again. The Northeast side of town is his area, but as a community member and leader, I would like to remind Mayor Nelsen that he is the Mayor of all of Visalia, not just his area.
A Call To Connect
What are we doing? What is our goal to help those in need experiencing homelessness? Can we create more ways for the community to get involved in solving the problems with new and innovative solutions?
There are many community organizations that are working hard without funding to help problem solve and support the initiatives of the local and state government. Now is the time to also bring in the school districts, hospitals, churches, businesses, and community organizations to the table.
“Not Everything is for everybody, but everybody needs something.”
It’s time for the community to stand up, pull up, and attend City Council Meetings, Attend County Supervisor Meetings, Attend or pay attention to State Meetings and Assembly Meetings. There is a lot of money being spent on things that may or may not be helping our communities thrive, instead we need to come together and let our voices and experience be
heard because YOU MATTER! Let’s ge involved!
“Everyone has to do better- cities, counties and the state included. We are all in this together”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom
“Deliver damn results. It’s a Crisis. Act like it. Everybody step up. I’m not the mayor. You want me to come in? I’ll do the job. I’ll do it. Happily. I’ve been going into cities cleaning up encampments. Has anyone gotten the hint? If someone did that to me when I was mayor, I’d be like, “OK, I got it’” California Gov. Gavin Newsom
“We need to put down the megaphones and pick up the shovels. Let’s bring all the solutions in, but it’s not going to happen at a photo op. It’s not going to happen with 90 people in a room. You’ve got to have a lot of conversations with technocratic experts at the table, to try and understand exactly how you can get it done. That’s much harder work”
San Jose, California Mayor Sam Liccardo
