Sonoma County Board of Supervisors approve matching funds for two Homekey sites

The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously today, to allocate capital funds in the amount of $950,000 for L&M Village in Healdsburg and $600,000 for The Studios at Montero in Petaluma, both Homekey sites. The funding commitment ensures the two sites will secure additional matching allocations from the state to assist with funding gaps. 

L&M Village, formerly known as the L&M Hotel, was approved in December 2021 for Homekey funding. The City of Healdsburg and site partner Reach for Home, were awarded $7 million to transform the 22-unit hotel into an interim housing site for Healdsburg’s chronically homeless. The Studios at Montero, formerly known as America’s Best Value Inn, is set to receive $15.6 million to convert the 60-room site into permanent housing. This is a partnership with Burbank Housing, the City of Petaluma and the Committee on the Shelterless. 

The two sites, which are expected to open later this year, will not serve as drop-in locations. Individuals accepted into the housing sites will receive benefits including behavioral health and substance use treatment, counseling to begin a path towards stabilization and a higher quality of life.

With the addition of the two hotel sites, Sonoma County has now received approval for five homeless housing sites under the state Homekey program since 2020. The first sites to be awarded funding were the Mickey Zane Place in Healdsburg and Elderberry Commons in Sebastopol in December 2020. 

The five projects have been awarded over $51 million from Homekey and created about 230 units of permanent or interim housing in Sonoma County. 

The County has submitted two additional Homekey applications to the state.  One is for a 21-unit permanent supportive housing project in the western portion of the county and another is for a 56-unit transition-aged youth and senior homeless housing project in unincorporated Santa Rosa. 

In late February 2022, the County, the Continuum of Care and partnering cities and nonprofits concluded the annual Point-in-Time Count to calculate the number of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness. While the data is still being compiled and analyzed, the County continues to work towards the goal of reducing homelessness by 10 percent yearly. Efforts to achieve a decrease in homelessness include increasing the number of beds in temporary and permanent housing as well as providing support services to address the physical and mental causes of homelessness.

In September 2021, the state offered $1.45 billion in funds during the second round of Homekey, known as Homekey-2. Homekey-2 funds can be used by local public entities including cities, counties, housing authorities or tribal entities within California to purchase or lease former hotels, motels, apartments, homes, and modular units. The sites purchased would become interim or permanent housing for people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness. Round three of Homekey, anticipated to fund up to $1.45 billion, is expected to open in October. 

For more information on Homekey visit homekey.hcd.ca.gov

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