Torrance council renews contract with Harbor Interfaith to continue 3290 temporary housing; accepts $1.7M+ in grants

The Torrance City Council on May 6 approved a consulting services agreement with Harbor Interfaith Services to continue operating the city's 3290 Temporary Housing Village and accepted more than $1.7 million in grant funding to support the program; the motion carried with Councilmember Kalani absent.

The vote implements staff recommendations to award the operations contract after a formal request-for-proposals process, appropriate grants to cover site operations, and enter a memorandum of understanding with the South Bay Cities Council of Governments (South Bay COG) to access Measure A regional programs. City staff described the action as a continuation of the city's homelessness response that pairs a staffed interim housing site with a city outreach team.

Why it matters: 3290 has served as the city's primary interim housing site since it opened in July 2023. Staff and the contracted operator told the council the site has transitioned dozens of residents to permanent housing and coordinates medical, psychiatric and housing supports. Council and staff framed the vote as necessary to sustain those services while the city continues to pursue additional regional funding and potential expansion options.

Key details

- Contract and procurement: Staff said the city reissued its RFP after an initial solicitation drew no responsive bids; five proposals were received when reissued. Harbor Interfaith Services scored highest in the selection process and was recommended for award. Staff listed the recommended contract amount as $1,783,316.01 for the awarded term.

- Grant funding and budgets: Staff described a multi-source funding package to offset the city general fund impact. Noted grant amounts and sources included a Cities and Councils of Governments Interim Housing Services Fund (COGIS) award of $1,284,800 (with $1,194,864 projected to be used for operations), approximately $338,000 in Permanent Local Housing Allocation (PLHA) funds anticipated from 2022'23 awards, and $250,000 in Measure A Local Solutions Fund through the South Bay COG (contingent on an MOU). Staff said the total acceptance and appropriation exceeds $1.7 million.

- Program results and partnerships: Harbor Interfaith and city staff reported metrics to the council. As of March 31, staff said the city outreach team had completed 49 encampment cleanups and 1,006 outreach responses (staff noted the dashboard would be updated to show 1,076 responses). Harbor Interfaith reported 41 clients permanently housed through the site since opening (staff said that number had increased to 43 after the report was prepared). Harbor Interfaith staff emphasized connection to vouchers and medical services; the operator identified Venice Family Clinic as an on-site partner providing periodic medical and psychiatric services.

- Regional coordination: Staff recommended and the council authorized the city manager to execute an MOU with the South Bay COG to receive a direct Measure A allocation (noted as $310,000 for FY 2025'26) and to access regional programs (estimated additional value about $330,000), which staff said would increase the effective value of the Measure A relationship to roughly $640,000 in service capacity.

Discussion highlights

Councilmembers thanked the outreach team and Harbor Interfaith for the program's results and urged staff to explore expansion and additional outreach capacity. Councilmember Metucci said the program is "working" but asked for more outreach staff and potential additional tiny-home units; Councilmember Lewis asked about mobile and mental health services and staff noted Venice Family Clinic provides half-day on-site services and that the city previously authorized a part-time mental-health worker but had difficulty filling that role. South Bay COG staff confirmed the city is in an initial data-collection phase to track inflow/outflow and median duration for a "functional zero" analysis.

Harbor Interfaith's executive director Tahia Hayslett said, "We are making sure that our clients are able to access more than just waiting for a voucher to come around," and site manager Aaron Street added, "We've had pretty good success with our site," citing voucher placements and referrals to medical care.

Outcome and next steps

The council approved the consulting services agreement and the related funding and authorizations, including submittal of the 2023 PLHA application and execution of the South Bay COG MOU. Staff will appropriate funds into new grant projects, continue to update the city's homeless-services dashboard (torranceca.gov/homeless) and continue work to identify potential alternate or expanded sites, including remediation work at the regional transit center noted by staff. Staff told council they are exploring an additional outreach van and the already-approved outreach worker position to increase capacity.

Votes at a glance

- Motion to award a consulting services agreement to Harbor Interfaith Services Inc.; accept and appropriate COGIS and other grant funds; authorize submission of PLHA application; execute MOU with South Bay COG; authorize city manager as signatory; accept and file update on homelessness response: Motion carried; council recorded the action as carried with Councilmember Kalani absent.

Torrance staff and Harbor Interfaith said they would return with ongoing updates on performance metrics and that the city would continue to pursue regional funding and site options as part of its homelessness strategy.