Governor Gavin Newsom announced he’s set aside $11 million for the creation of a 30-unit village for homeless families on the County of Santa Barbara’s sprawling Calle Real campus. The new village is a partnership between the County of Santa Barbara (which is supplying the land), DignityMoves, and the State of California. Funding for the project — currently dubbed the Calle Real Family Village — is part of a broader $117 million installment of Newsom’s Homekey+, an even bigger $4 billion initiative to get homeless people back inside by providing a roof, four walls, and a door that can be locked, coupled with mental-health rehab services.
Partnering with Newsom on the family center is DignityMoves, a private Bay Area–based philanthropic organization that’s already built three such villages — totaling 243 units and 700 residents — in Santa Barbara County. For DignityMoves, this project marks a significant departure. For starters, it’s permanent; the other three have been given strict time limits and will have to pull up stakes when the expiration date arrives. They provide their guests communal space for eating and cooking, with private bathing facilities. In the Family Village, each of the units will be equipped with its own kitchen and bathroom, as well as bedroom and living area. All this is to better accommodate the privacy needs of family life.
Total construction cost is estimated at $14.5 million. Of the $11 million in state funds, $9 million will go to build the brick-and-mortar homes and another $2 million will be used for “wrap-around services.” DignityMoves has raised an additional $5 million for construction and will be raising another $2 million for services.
The family focus is meant to address a stubbornly persistent need. Based on county homeless statistics, there were 694 families with kids in Santa Barbara last year. The year before, there were 745. For minors younger than 18, that translates to 1,322 last year and 1,402 the year before. All told, the number of people living as a family without a place to call home was 2,184 last year and 2,336 the year before. The number of families reporting they were fleeing, or attempting to flee, domestic violence was 92 last year and 106 the year before.
The project is expected to break ground late this summer. The units will be ready for occupancy next fall. When it opens, the project will be named after the Balay Ko Foundation, the largest private donor underwriting the cost of DignityMoves’ Santa Barbara enterprises. Bali Ko means “our home” in Tagalog, a Filipino language. To date, Balay Ko has given $1 million to each of the county’s three DignityMoves projects and $2 million to the Family Center.
