COMMITTEE AGENDA MEMORANDUM
Homeless Encampment Ad Hoc Committee
SUBJECT:
title
Analysis of Concept, Cost, and Potential Funding for Proposed Environmental Cleanup Day Event.
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RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Receive information and provide staff with direction for Board Recommendation to host an Environmental Cleanup Day event to engage government agencies, environmental advocates, homeless advocates, volunteers, and local homeless populations in a collaborative effort to perform environmental cleanup activities along Coyote Creek in San Jose.
Body
SUMMARY:
Environmental Cleanup Day Proposal
At the August 5, 2019 Homeless Encampment Ad Hoc Committee meeting, the Committee requested Valley Water staff to investigate the potential for hosting a special Environmental Cleanup Day event (Event). The Event would be a collaboration of organizations and volunteers working together to clean three sites along Coyote Creek in advance of winter rains, creating a positive environmental impact in Santa Clara County. Participants would include representatives of other government agencies, environmental advocacy groups, homeless advocacy groups, and citizen volunteers including homeless residents themselves.
Encouraging active participation of local homeless residents is a key characteristic of the Event. The increasing rate of homelessness in Santa Clara County has occasionally created tension between Valley Water, whose mission is to provide and maintain clean, safe creeks for the benefit of the community, and homeless county residents who camp along the creeks and may not have access to usual mechanisms for waste management.
The Event would serve as a pilot program intended to demonstrate a way for Valley Water to work directly with homeless residents and achieve cleaner creeks together. It also is a prime opportunity for other agencies and social services organizations to not only lend a hand with the cleanup, but to conduct outreach activities and offer servic...
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