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El Cerrito MSC Approves $128,000 Package to Continue County CORE Outreach and Top Up Housing Security Fund
Summary
The Municipal Services Corporation approved funding to keep the county CORE street-outreach team operating in El Cerrito and to add to the city's Housing Security Fund after hearing data showing placements into stable housing and high retention among those placed. Board members asked for data clarifications and raised sustainability concerns about county-level funding.
The El Cerrito Municipal Services Corporation unanimously approved a funding package to continue the city's partnership with Contra Costa County's CORE street-outreach teams and to add money to the city's Housing Security Fund (HSF).
Jenny Robbins, director of community response for Contra Costa County, told the board that CORE 'stands for coordinated outreach referral and engagement,' and that the program operates seven days a week from 7 a.m. to midnight. "We operate as a housing-focused street outreach model," Robbins said, describing CORE's work connecting people to shelter, medical services and permanent housing.
Robbins and Shelby Ferguson, CORE program director, presented recent local outcomes: in the first half of fiscal year 2025-26, teams served 70 individuals in El Cerrito (81 people were identified as having ties to the city), with loss of income and eviction the top causes of homelessness. Ferguson said El Cerrito's Quad City team recorded 49 participants, 144 contacts and 592 services during the period, including nearly 300 emergency supply distributions and more than 200 housing-coordination actions. She noted 12 individuals exited to more stable housing between July and December 2025 and that none of those who exited during the period returned to homelessness.
Ferguson gave a case example of a family in November 2025 that received HSF-supported back-rent assistance and avoided eviction. "With the support of the Housing Security Fund with El Cerrito, this family was successfully diverted from homelessness," she said.
City housing staff explained how the program is funded. Ayesha Ashore, El Cerrito's housing and economic development manager, said the CORE partnership and HSF have been supported in part by a restricted community-benefit contribution from local cannabis operating permits created under the city's cannabis ordinance adopted in 2018. Ashore told the board the city has historically contributed $15,000 to the HSF, later increased to $25,000, and that the proposed funding package under consideration would total about $128,000 for CORE and the HSF, while earlier slides listed roughly $103,000 as the estimated core-team contribution for the next fiscal year.
Board members praised CORE's results but pressed for clarity on some numbers. Mayor Pro Tem Saltzman asked whether the FY25-26 revenue figures shown represented only half a year; staff confirmed those figures covered collections through December. Saltzman also questioned how the presentation arrived at a '97 percent' retention figure from a small number of exits, saying, "I can't understand how you get to 97 percent of 6." Robbins explained the retention metric counts whether people who exited into permanent housing later re-entered the county homeless-services system; if they did not re-enter, they are counted as maintaining housing, which produced the 97 percent figure for that subgroup.
Members also asked about coordination with affordable-housing developers and waitlists; CORE staff said teams work to sign eligible clients up for housing waitlists and coordinate with the Housing Authority of Contra Costa to pursue vouchers and permanent supportive-housing referrals.
The board moved to pass the resolution supporting the funding package; the motion was made by Board Member Motoyama and seconded by Vice Chair Saltzman and carried by voice vote. The MSC adjourned and the regular council meeting was scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m.
The council vote authorizes continued participation in the CORE partnership and additional HSF funding as presented; staff said individual HSF disbursements remain subject to eligibility review and approval. Several board members voiced concern about long-term sustainability, noting that CORE relies on city contributions, grants and some county funding that could change if state or county revenue measures do not materialize. Staff said multiyear commitments could improve sustainability and that some teams have three-year grant terms that may sunset when grants end.
