Residents praise Stocking Boulevard Safe Stay and describe Joshua's House hospice criteria

Two residents who spoke during public comment described how Stocking Boulevard Safe Stay and Joshua's House hospice have provided practical supports and hope for people experiencing homelessness.

A resident who said they had been unhoused described the emotional toll of living without stable housing and urged services that treat people with dignity. "When you're unhoused, it's easy to feel like you're not worthy," the resident said, adding that "everybody is worthy of getting help and everybody deserves a better life." The speaker said accepting pets at shelter sites makes it easier for people to seek help and would have helped them find resources sooner.

The resident outlined how Stocking Boulevard Safe Stay operates as a temporary shelter that provides an individual assessment for each participant and offers services aimed at helping people make progress toward housing goals. "Each participant will receive an individual assessment of their needs and their length of stay is really dependent on their ability to make progress towards their goals," the resident said. They emphasized that while the shelter provides resources "at our fingertips," participants must engage with services for them to be effective.

The speaker also discussed health-care pathways, noting many people without housing access care through emergency departments and sometimes return to the street with serious diagnoses. "Now there will be a place to refer them to," the resident said. On end-of-life care, the resident described Joshua's House hospice eligibility: patients must have a diagnosis with a prognosis of six months or less and elect to forgo curative treatment; intake steps follow to determine whether a person is an appropriate fit for the hospice.

Another resident offered a brief testimonial about using services, calling the shelter "a big step forward" and praising staff and daily meals: "They feed you three times a day and the food's good and the people are nice," the second resident said, adding staff were "willing to help with whatever you have going on." No formal action or vote is recorded in the provided transcript of these comments.

Speakers' remarks were delivered as public comment and describe personal experience and program practices rather than binding policy changes or new regulatory requirements.