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Frank Porter is a retired school superintendent, school principal and teacher, as well as a 5th generation Californian. While working in Sacramento, Frank became aware of the many students who were homeless. Working with Housing El Dorado, he also became aware there are 750 homeless students at any time in El Dorado County. The official government count is done in the winter when the count is artificially low. The count showed 34% living in cars, 37% in encampment and 12% on the streets or sidewalks. The Western Slope has 72% of the county's unhoused. After many delays, a homeless shelter opened on Feb. 8th at the former juvenile hall site in Placerville. For years, our county was only one of four in the entire state not to have a shelter. Nearly 40% of all county residents are on the edge of homelessness. Missing one paycheck or having unscheduled bills could result in their loss of housing. The West Slope is 5,000 housing units short of what is needed. Persons earning between $16-$30 per hour are considered low income. Housing El Dorado has a new emergency fund to help prevent rent evictions. A new affordable housing project with 488 units will begin construction in Spring, 2023. Other programs include a Safe Parking program to provide safe parking at night for homeless, particularly women with children. Also, the state mandated ADO program will allow the construction of small cottage units with less than 750 square feet on single family residential lots that can be rented out at market rates. He estimates more than 30 of these units to be built within three years. Finally, the El Dorado Community Land Bank and ED Community Land Trust was established to help increase access to affordable housing; to date two donations were received. |
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