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Planning commission moves Molding Hearts homelessness proposal to city council after public scrutiny
Summary
The Twentynine Palms Planning Commission heard a presentation from Lita Johnson of Molding Hearts seeking $24,999 to subsidize first-month housing for unhoused residents. After extended public comment on scope, local placement and voluntariness, the committee voted 3–2 to forward the proposal to city council with recommended revisions.
Twentynine Palms City — The Planning Commission on a split vote agreed to forward a proposal from nonprofit Molding Hearts to the City Council for further review after residents raised questions about scope, data and the program’s language.
Molding Hearts CEO Lita Johnson told the commission the organization provides emergency, transitional and shared permanent housing and works with county agencies to place clients in programs. "Molding Hearts respectfully request[s] the $24,999 from the city of 29 Palms to support their homeless concerns," Johnson said, describing the funds as a startup subsidy to cover first-month housing and intake costs so clients can be connected to longer-term contracts and services.
The proposal and the requested amount drew sustained public comment. Cindy Bernard, speaking during the public-comment period, said the plan felt "extremely rushed" and warned it could move unhoused residents out of the community: "This shifts our general direction for how we would deal with our residents who are unhoused and this moves us towards shipping them elsewhere potentially against their will." Several other speakers echoed concerns about family separation, mental-health needs and the lack of detailed local plans.
City staff and commissioners pushed back on the characterization that the program would force people to relocate. A staff member said the program intended outreach and offers of services, and "in no way are any of those rights going to be violated," adding there would be "no rounding up" of people who decline services.
Commissioners pressed Johnson on operational details: how her organization "leverages" contracts with the Department of Behavioral Health and probation, where clients would be housed, annual per-person costs and the basis for success rates cited in Molding Hearts literature. Johnson said Molding Hearts has contracts that allow some clients to live rent-free for up to one year and that she has identified resources across San Bernardino County — including 75 beds systemwide and 24 beds available specifically for Twentynine Palms — and that the city funds would serve as a gateway to those resources.
Staff reported that Molding Hearts appears in good standing with the California Secretary of State. Commissioners noted a scheduling constraint: the commission has a final opportunity to place items on the next City Council agenda (Nov. 12); otherwise the earliest council review would be Jan. 14.
After discussion the commission conducted a hand-raise poll to send the item to council with recommended revisions to clarify language and program details. The committee recorded three votes in favor and two opposed to forward the proposal for council consideration. The vote does not approve city funding; any expenditure would require council action and additional vetting.
What happens next: staff and commissioners said they would work with the applicant to tighten the proposal’s language — specifically removing or clarifying aggressive phrasing about removing people from streets in 24–72 hours and adding metrics and site details — before the City Council reviews the item.
