Lobby for your Life: Suggestions from Laura

From: Laura Chatham
Sent: Sunday, April 5, 2020 11:09 AM
To: Laura Chatham
Subject: Fwd: Demand Santa Cruz follow the CDC guidelines and provide 30 day hotel rooms for our homeless neighbors

To the dear citizens of Santa Cruz:

The City and County of Santa Cruz are putting us all at risk by not taking proper care of our homeless population during this COVID-19 pandemic.
The Center for Disease Control says homeless people should be placed in hotel rooms for 30 days so they can shelter in place, regardless of whether they have contracted the virus or not. Gov Newsom and the California Assembly on March 17 allotted $500 million for this purpose announcing Project Roomkey.
The CDC guidelines also state that it is dangerous to place people in shelters. The Salvation Army Shelter on Laurel Street has had nearly sixty people sleeping on gym mats eight inches from shoulder the shoulder of their neighbor in big open rooms where the virus can circulate, infecting some of our most vulnerable citizens
Please help us by writing emails to the city and county to let them know that everyone unhoused person should be immediately given a hotel room to protect ALL of us.
Here are some people and their email addresses who could help if they want to
CITY:
Susie O'Hara SOhara [at] cityofsantacruz.com
Martin Bernal mbernal [at] cityofsantacruz.com
Andrew Mills amills [at] cityofsantacruz.com
Justin Cummings jcummings [at] cityofsantacruz.com>

COUNTY:
Elissa Benson
Jessica Scheiner
Tatiana Brennan
Kelly Fong Rivas (Chief of Staff of Darrell Steinberg, director the Governor Newsom's Homeless Task Force


Here is an example of something you could say in the email:

Dear Susie O'Hara,

In view of the passage of SB 89 on March 17 by the California Assembly that provided $500 million for hotel vouchers for homeless people, and that the Center for Disease Controls guidelines state that homeless people should be housed during this period of Sheltering in Place, we demand that every person in need of shelter be given a 30 day voucher for the safety of our whole community.

We understand that instead of issuing the vouchers, the City of Santa Cruz hired Brooke Newman for $100,000 to $140,000 per year as reported by the Santa Cruz Sentinel last week. If this misdirection of funds may not be technically illegal, it should be. Again please follow the CDC guidelines and provide a hotel room for everyone who lives outside.


Sincerely,
Laura Chatham

Thank you for helping to protect, not only our most vulnerable citizens, but our whole community.