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Jones said that was part of the access to library services and internet access at service provider locations <br />initiative. <br /> <br />Mr. Papé asked how many people were assisted and how many were turned away on any given evening. <br />Ms. Wolfe replied that the County’s snapshot one-night shelter count indicated that 1,100 people received <br />shelter and 200 were turned away. <br /> <br />Mr. Papé noted that approximately 95 percent of the homeless were local citizens and a strong community <br />awareness campaign would help the public understand it was a local problem. <br /> <br />Ms. Solomon asked how the school districts were addressing the problem of homeless youth. Kasey White, <br />4J School District homeless liaison, said the district received a federal grant to provide transportation <br />assistance in the form of bus passes, although transportation was a critical issue and she often exceeded her <br />budget. She also assisted homeless families with enrollment, documentation, immunization, and other <br />logistics of school attendance. <br /> <br />Ms. Solomon, seconded by Ms. Ortiz, moved to support a strategy to establish a stable <br />funding source to address prevention, intervention and treatment of homelessness in Eugene <br />by appointing a multijurisdictional (public/non-profit) committee and charging the commit- <br />tee with the task of identifying a funding source, a revenue goal and an allocation process. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly said there was no broad community awareness or commitment on homeless issues and one way <br />that people could be encouraged to help was if there was something they could do as individuals. He was <br />interested in a program similar to the one in Portland that would allow someone to hand out a voucher for <br />services instead of spare change when approached on the street. He asked if staff considered such a <br />program. Mr. Weinman said that providers considered such a campaign and while the Portland campaign <br />was showy, it was not as effective as it sounded in terms of actually connecting people with services and <br />having a significant impact on the issues. He noted that Portland and other large cities had different issues <br />than smaller communities and in Portland there was a gross receipts tax on downtown business to help get <br />people off the streets. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly challenged the staff team to develop ways in which individuals could make a difference. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly, seconded by Ms. Ortiz, moved to amend the motion to provide $150,000 to be <br />divided among one-time emergency payments, additional hours for access centers, and <br />transportation assistance. <br /> <br />In response to a question from Ms. Solomon, Mr. Weinman said that one-time emergency housing payments <br />were typically provided directly to the landlord. <br /> <br />Ms. Solomon emphasized the importance of not reducing the funds available for emergency housing and <br />transportation assistance by using any of the allocation for administrative costs. <br /> <br />Ms. Ortiz noted that there were mechanisms in place to administer those programs and there would be no <br />additional costs. She asked if LTD was willing to be flexible with its bus tokens program. Mr. Weinman <br />related that in his discussions with LTD staff they had indicated a willingness to be flexible with current <br />policies and look for more opportunities. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 17, 2006 Page 4 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />