Board highlights homelessness outreach and overdose response in work‑group reports

Board members at the June 25 meeting described recent work‑group activity focused on homelessness outreach, overdose response and targeted community engagement.

Members said the Road Home Work Group distributed the city’s homelessness policy and metrics and combined point‑in‑time counts with personal narratives from people experiencing homelessness to increase awareness. The group also organized an Alameda volunteers award and helped stage overdose response trainings addressing opioid use disorder; the final training session in the current series is scheduled for July 29, staff said.

Committee members described outreach to school leaders: a presentation to PTA presidents across Alameda was offered to explain available services for students and families facing housing instability and to solicit school‑level needs. One member said the PTA outreach was a good way to reach families who might otherwise be unaware of services.

On an age‑friendly survey, board members noted the survey is scheduled to close on Friday, June 27, and discussed the option of briefly reopening or conducting targeted outreach to fill demographic gaps, particularly to reach seniors and people experiencing homelessness who may be underrepresented in initial responses. A board member described distributing QR codes in business districts to target senior respondents.

Members also discussed aligning Community Development Block Grant‑related outreach and other funding streams with work‑group activities to maximize public awareness and service impact as funding becomes more constrained.

The board asked that these work‑group items be revisited at the retreat to clarify responsibilities and to determine which activities should be driven by the task forces themselves with the board serving in a support role.