Alameda council accepts final 'Road Home' plan, highlights new shelter capacity and housing goals

The Alameda City Council voted unanimously Jan. 6 to accept the final report on the Road Home plan, the city’s five-year strategy to prevent and respond to homelessness.

Simone Falls, manager of Housing & Human Services, told the council the plan — first adopted in October 2021 — focuses on five priorities: preventing first-time homelessness, reducing chronic homelessness, shortening time spent homeless, addressing disparities and decreasing returns to homelessness. "We have built 82 homeownership and 182 rental units for low- and moderate-income households since 2021," Falls said, and staff expects another roughly 816 units by 2029 through projects led by the Housing Authority and other partnerships.

The plan also tracks services and shelter capacity. Falls said the city currently funds 128 shelter beds and expects the new day center to bring the total to about 140 beds. The city has expanded flexible funding — used for move-in costs, rental assistance and short-term stabilization — and integrated outreach data into HMIS, the HUD-mandated homeless-management information system. Falls added that new programs include a CARES team led by the fire department and a social worker placed at the main library.

Public commenters and shelter partners praised Alameda’s investments. John Brennan of Christ Episcopal Church, which hosts a seasonal warming shelter, said the church-city partnership (roughly 70/30 city/church funding) provides essential navigation and supportive-housing pathways for residents. Brennan called navigation ‘‘critical’’ because the system is complex and people experiencing homelessness may lack reliable contact information.

Councilmembers asked staff to provide additional data on point-in-time counts, outreach contacts recorded in HMIS and the demographic breakdown of people served, including whether the city is housing young people aging out of foster care. Falls said those data exist in HMIS and that staff will return with more details.

Why it matters: Council members and service providers said new shelter beds, case management, and better data-sharing are necessary to move people into permanent housing. Falls emphasized that many future units rely on partnerships with the Housing Authority and planned programs such as Reshape, which together account for the projected pipeline.

What's next: Council accepted the final report and directed staff to use the findings to inform a new five-year strategic plan. Falls said staff will begin a refreshed needs-assessment process this month and return with an updated strategy to guide work after the Road Home horizon.