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Vallejo Together urges recognition of outreach as housing infrastructure
Summary
Avenel Hanley Mills, a board member of Vallejo Together, asked the commission to partner on outreach that connects unhoused residents to housing resources, citing thousands of meals and service interactions provided by the nonprofit and urging funding and system coordination.
Avenel Hanley Mills, introduced to the Commission as a board member of Vallejo Together, described the nonprofit’s volunteer-driven, mobile outreach that delivers meals, care packages and mail services to people experiencing homelessness and urged the Housing and Community Development Commission to treat outreach as part of housing infrastructure.
“Vallejo Together is a volunteer driven mobile outreach community based nonprofit, supporting our unhoused neighbors through direct services and connection to housing resources,” Hanley Mills said, listing work the group performs on the street: meals, distribution of tents and sleeping supplies, mail enrollment for housing applications and transportation to appointments.
She recited documented impact figures in the meeting: “21,800 meals delivered, 3,200 care, 3,300 plus care packages, and 1,100” (mail enrollments), and asked the commission to recognize outreach as a strategic component of housing stabilization, strengthen investments in outreach as an entry strategy, and expand funding for navigation and transportation.
Commissioners thanked the presenter and asked operational questions: how long Vallejo Together has been active (more than 10 years, with nonprofit status for about six years) and how the group is funded (donations and small grants). The commission chair and liaison noted the urgency posed by limited affordable housing in Vallejo and the region, and encouraged partnership between the commission, the housing authority and nonprofit providers.
What’s next: Commissioners expressed support and offered to consider how the commission’s work plan and potential funding sources might align with outreach initiatives; no formal action was taken.
