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A 6,300-square-foot high-tension membrane structure will be the center of the city of Tracy’s Temporary Emergency Housing Project on Arbor Avenue. A $7.2 million allocation from San Joaquin County will help the city close a funding gap for the project.
Tracy Mayor Pro-Tem Eleassia Davis, chair of the city’s Homelessness Advisory Committee, talks to the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors about the importance of a funding proposal for Tracy’s homeless shelter.
A floor plan shows how a 6,300-square-foot structure could be laid out to serve as a homeless shelter, with three dormitory-style rooms, offices and a common area.
A 6,300-square-foot high-tension membrane structure will be the center of the city of Tracy’s Temporary Emergency Housing Project on Arbor Avenue. A $7.2 million allocation from San Joaquin County will help the city close a funding gap for the project.
Tracy Mayor Pro-Tem Eleassia Davis, chair of the city’s Homelessness Advisory Committee, talks to the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors about the importance of a funding proposal for Tracy’s homeless shelter.
A floor plan shows how a 6,300-square-foot structure could be laid out to serve as a homeless shelter, with three dormitory-style rooms, offices and a common area.
An allocation of nearly $7.2 million from San Joaquin County brings the city of Tracy a step closer to completing its Temporary Emergency Housing Project on Arbor Avenue.
On Tuesday the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a transfer from the county’s American Rescue Plan Act allocation, which includes $20 million for housing and homelessness.
The ARPA allocation is part of the $1.9 trillion federal spending bill from 2021 in response to COVID-19. The county had already allocated more than $4.2 million, including nearly $3.7 million worth of ARPA funding, to the city for the shelter project in 2022, and Tuesday’s action brings the county’s contribution for the project to $11.4 million.
Tracy Housing and Mobility Director Adriana Casteneda told the board that the city already has about $13 million for Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the project, with an estimated cost of about $20 million for those two phases, so this action closes that funding gap.
Phase 1 includes site preparation of 370 Arbor Ave., a cost of $3.5 million, and Phase 2 includes the construction of the central shelter component: a 6,300-square-foot high-tension membrane Sprung structure that will serve as a 68-bed shelter.
The cost of the Sprung structure, including set-up and build out of the utilities to serve the 68-bed shelter, comes out to just over $1.8 million, with a list of other costs that will make the site a homeless service center.
Design and construction support will cost nearly $1.8 million, a sewer lift station to serve the site will cost $1.7 million, sidewalks and other concrete work will cost about $1 million, and other costs will include fencing and lighting. Additional structures covered in the city’s budget will include auxiliary buildings, including a commercial kitchen, restrooms, showers, storage and utility buildings.
Tracy Mayor Pro Tem Eleassia Davis, chair of the city’s Homelessness Advisory Committee, and Councilman Mateo Bedolla, vice chair of that committee, were both at Tuesday’s meeting to advocate for the funding and thank the board for its support.
“The city would not be as far along as we are with our housing solutions as we are now had it not been for the board’s previous support of $3.66 million and some additional funding that came later,” Davis told the board.
“Because of the board’s approval of that funding our city has benefitted from a number of small wins, including providing those individuals experiencing homelessness with viable options for moving permanently out of our parks and public spaces and into safe, clean, dignified housing with access to supportive services that help lead to self-sufficiency,” Davis said.
She added that partnerships at all levels of government will allow cities to provide temporary housing plus mental health and substance abuse services.
“Comprehensively addressing these inter-related issues at the city, county and state level is how we eradicate the problem together.”
The supervisors asked about the availability of beds in the new shelter, with Steve Ding noting that some of the county’s homeless population stays just outside of Tracy city limits. The San Joaquin Continuum of Care Point in Time Count from 2022 estimated that the county had 1,355 unsheltered individuals living on the streets or in encampment, including 155 in Tracy.
Interim City Manager Midori Lichtwardt told the board that the 48 beds in the modular units in Phase 3 -- the four modular buildings set up as dormitories plus a building that serves as an administrative center – are full, with people rotating in and out of the shelter.
Also to come is Phase 4, which will be eight repurposed shipping containers, which will accommodate 38 more beds and is expected to be complete by the end of September.
Board Chairman Robert Rickman said that Tracy’s shelter will benefit the county as a whole.
“Homelessness is a crisis that is long term, and it requires us all working together,” Rickman said. “It’s not just a government issue. It’s everybody’s issue, and if we are going to reduce homelessness and bring people off our streets and reverse the numbers locally we have to work locally. We have to work as a county.”
The city picked the Arbor Avenue site for the shelter project in September 2020, and completion of the funding package allows the city to move forward on final plans and construction for the shelter.
“I am proud that what started many years ago as a grassroots effort to help our most vulnerable in Tracy has brought us here today – 48 unsheltered individuals now have shelter and access to the resources they need,” said Mayor Nancy Young in a statement released on Wednesday.
“On behalf of the City of Tracy, I want to thank the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors. Their partnership and the funding they have allocated to lifting people in Tracy out of homelessness is much appreciated and a reflection of our collective commitment to those we serve.”
• Contact Bob Brownne at brownne@tracypress.com, or call 209-830-4227.
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With Stockton closing its 250 bed shelter, Tracy will become the hub for SJ County homeless. 68 beds won’t house those already living in El Pascadero Park, the Sump off MacArthur, nor Plasencia Fields. I think this is a huge mistake for our City residents-These homeless are NOT our citizens, but grifters from outside our fine town. Homeless-by Federal Law should be sent to their place of birth, sharing the financial and physical burdens fairly.
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