Community

Marin’s Sharp Decline in Homelessness Confirmed

Published

7 years ago

August 2, 2019

Final Point-in-Time Count report marks progress made since 2017

Final statistics from the Point-in-Time Homelessness Count that took place in January confirm that the Marin County Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and its partners have reduced chronic homelessness by 28 percent since 2017.

On January 28, teams of volunteers canvassed the county to gather data about people experiencing homelessness on a single day.

Marin HHS and partners discussed the preliminary numbers, strategies, and initiatives that have made this significant progress possible, most notably Housing First, at a press conference on May 8. The Marin County Homeless Count and Survey Comprehensive Report, released July 31, captures more detailed geographic and demographic data about people experiencing homelessness in Marin.

Housing First is a nationally and globally recognized best practice for addressing homelessness. The approach recognizes a person’s housing need first, then surrounds them with the support necessary to achieve stability and independence. Since October 2017, Marin HHS and its partners have permanently housed 162 chronically homeless residents.

“A key component to our success has been our ability to create new housing for people experiencing chronic homelessness by pairing Marin Housing Authority’s Housing Choice Vouchers with Ritter Center’s Whole Person Care case management team, who work closely with clients and landlords to resolve problems to keep clients successfully housed,” said Kimberly Carroll, Deputy Director of the Marin Housing Authority.

The report also indicates that Marin’s emergency shelter system is reaching more vulnerable people. Thanks to a joint effort of Homeward Bound, Marin HHS, and the Marin Community Foundation, Marin’s emergency shelter for single adults is also implementing Housing First practices. So far in 2019, more people who are chronically homeless are accessing shelter than ever before. That reduces the number of highly vulnerable people sleeping outdoors and increases the number with access to services connecting them with steady housing.

“Housing First is a practice with 30 years of evidence behind it, but implementing it here at home took a big leap of faith,” said Ashley Hart McIntyre, Marin HHS Homelessness Policy Analyst. “The numbers are in, and it’s working.”

Other successes highlighted by the report:

Family homelessness is down 28 percent;

Youth homelessness is down 11 percent;

The total count of people experiencing homelessness in Marin is 1,034 individuals, a 7 percent reduction. This is especially notable given significant increases in homelessness across other Bay Area counties.

The report also highlighted areas in which more work is necessary. Though San Rafael and Novato both saw significant reductions in unsheltered homelessness (30% and 13%, respectively), other areas, like Richardson Bay and West Marin, saw increases. Marin HHS is working closely with partners in those regions to expand work begun in 2016 to identify each person experiencing chronic homelessness and connect them with housing.

The report also shows a continued need to advance racial equity, a leading priority for both Marin HHS and the Marin County Board of Supervisors. As in most American communities, residents who identified as Black or African American were overrepresented in the homeless population; they make up 2.8 percent of Marin’s population but 17 percent of the homeless population.

“This overrepresentation is due to a long and complex local and nationwide history of racism and housing discrimination,” said Ken Shapiro, Director of Marin HHS’s Whole Person Care program.

Some equity strategies already employed include a focus on ensuring people of color are not inadvertently screened out when prioritizing vulnerable people for housing, expanding successful initiatives in targeted areas of the county, and building relationships with partners who have long histories of working with these Marin populations.

Finally, the report confirmed that nearly three-quarters of people experiencing homelessness in Marin are locals. “Those statistics are consistent with similar reports nationwide,” said Carrie Ellen Sager, HHS’ Homelessness Program Coordinator. “By and large, people who become homeless stay where they have connections. This is a local problem, and these are our neighbors.”

Carroll said partnering agencies are encouraged by the new evidence of the program success. “We’re very proud,” she said. “It’s all about a great team working together with a shared vision to end chronic homelessness.”

Marin HHS would particularly like to thank its partners the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Marin, Homeward Bound of Marin, Ritter Center, Buckelew Programs, the City of San Rafael, the Downtown Streets Team, HHS Behavioral Health and Recovery Services, and the Marin Housing Authority, whose representatives meet each week to break down the barriers to ending homelessness in Marin.

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Arts and Culture

COMMENTARY: Black Music is the Sound of Black Freedom: Let Us Reclaim Both This Juneteenth

Black Music Month started when Black Music Association members Ed Wright, Kenny Gamble and his wife, journalist and radio host Dyanna Williams were able to persuade President Jimmy Carter to establish the observation on June 7, 1979.

Published

1 day ago

June 9, 2026

Oakland Post

Robert Johnson (1911-1938) is thought of as the godfather of blues music, especially Delta blues. The 29 songs recorded by him during his short life have been of massive inspiration to guitarists and musicians over the last 80 years. Public domain photo.

By Wanda Ravernell

Black Music Month and Juneteenth are inextricably linked – Black music is the sound of our freedom.

From the plaintive moans of the enslaved Africans’ ‘sorrow songs,’ to the fields of Civil War battle where Black soldiers picked up abandoned bugles, to the upright piano played in juke joints on Saturday night and churches come Sunday morning, our ancestors’ innovation in the face of want, fear, degradation, and hopelessness has yielded genres of music imitated ’round the world.

In 2000, Congress made it official. In 2009, Pres. Barack Obama changed the name to African American Music Heritage Month and in 2023, Pres. Joe Biden changed it back to Black Music Month, two years after he declared Juneteenth a national holiday, the result of a movement led by Opal Lee.

Our ancestors battle for freedom over these last 400 years and the music that allowed them expression of their humanity deserved to be honored.

But we may be losing sight of the value of their sacrifices.

‘Sing a Song Full of the Faith That the Dark past Has Taught Us…’

Along with the long-known exploitation of Black musicians whose recordings were stolen by record companies, the commercialization of Juneteenth feels like another kind of theft.

I had never heard of Juneteenth until I moved to the Bay Area from my hometown of Philadelphia. I didn’t know it was one of many freedom festivals celebrated by descendants of enslaved people in the United States.

Emancipation Day was Jan. 1 in Pennsylvania, April 16 in Wash., D.C., May 20 in Florida, and Aug. 8 in Kentucky. But Juneteenth, June 19, has the most renown, known in Texas as the ‘colored peoples’ Fourth of July.’

It was marked by parades, beauty pageants, rodeos, backyard barbecues and church picnics.

Yes, church.

The formerly enslaved began the day praying in thanks for their freedom just as they had prayed for Jubilee – the day of freedom – when they had chains on their feet and hands. They ‘testified’ about their past suffering and how they had managed to overcome.

And they sang.

Although, we will not hold it this year, Omnira Institute’s Juneteenth Ritual of Remembrance recalled this part of Juneteenth with prayers in the languages of the African captives. In the middle of the ceremony, a soloist would lead us in singing “Many Thousand Gone” while we took turns reciting portions of the Emancipation Proclamation, the news of freedom that took more than two years to reach Texas – two months after the Civil War ended.

“Many Thousand Gone” was famously recorded by Black luminary Paul Robeson in 1947:

“No more auction block for me,

No more, no more

No more auction black for me

Many thousand gone.”

Other verses refer to the ‘pint of salt’ and the ‘driver’s lash,’ the realities of enslavement that they had survived.

‘Sing a Song Full of the Hope That the Present has Brought Us’

All of the genres of African American music have at their root songs like that, the essence being, as Stevie Wonder, wrote, “the joy inside our pain.” So Black music is not just music. It is our story, our history, our very strength.

During the Civil Rights Movement, which peaked 100 years after slavery ended, the people testified that it was the freedom songs – based on spirituals – that gave them the heart to march, face attack dogs, fire hoses, beatings, and shootouts with vigilantes.

The music reminded them that power was in the people. That music, our music, can do so again. We don’t have to accept the commodification of the products of our culture.

The power of those songs is showing a resurgence across the South as we battle again for the right to self-determination through the ballot box.

Those songs are the voices of our ancestors, voices forged in their blood, their sweat, their tears, joy and, above all, faith. Those songs, those prayers live in our blood and our very breath.

This Juneteenth, let us reclaim those holy voices expressed in Black music for ourselves. It is our birthright. It can neither be bought nor sold. No more. Never again.

Wanda Ravernell is the executive director of Omnira Institute, sponsor for 18 years of the Juneteenth Ritual of Remembrance and Oakland’s 11^th Annual Black-Eyed Pea Festival, which will take place on Sept. 12.

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of June 3 – 9, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 3 – 9, 2026

Published

1 day ago

June 9, 2026

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

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#NNPA BlackPress

Study: Waiting Lists for Child Care Assistance Nearly Doubled

BLACKPRESS USA NEWSWIRE — “Since the expiration of tens of billions of dollars in federal child care funding in 2023 and 2024, an already fragile child care system has been pushed even closer to the brink.”
The post Study: Waiting Lists for Child Care Assistance Nearly Doubled appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

Published

2 days ago

June 8, 2026

Oakland Post

By National Women’s Law Center

The National Women’s Law Center released its annual State Child Care Assistance Policies report, finding that the number of children placed on waiting lists for federally funded child care assistance nearly doubled between 2024 and 2025 — and that number has only continued to grow.

The report serves as a key resource for state lawmakers, advocates, and policymakers by tracking state child care assistance policies and identifying where states are strengthening support for families and early educators — or falling behind.

“This deeply troubling increase in the number of children on child care waiting lists is the result of a failure to invest in this crucial sector,” said Karen Schulman, senior director of state child care policy and author of the report. “Since the expiration of tens of billions of dollars in federal child care funding in 2023 and 2024, an already fragile child care system has been pushed even closer to the brink.”

Key findings in the report related to waiting lists for child care assistance include:

• 17 states had waiting lists or a freeze on intake for child care assistance in February 2025, up from 13 states in February 2024.

• Approximately 106,700 children nationwide were added to waiting lists between February 2024 and February 2025, bringing the total to 225,500 children in February 2025 — a 90 percent increase compared to February 2024.

• The numbers climbed even further between February 2025 and summer/fall 2025, with more than 175,000 additional children added to state waiting lists in just a few months — a 78 percent increase.

• At least seven states newly began placing families on waiting lists or freezing intake, while at least 10 additional states saw their waiting lists grow, after February 2025.

The report also includes state-by-state data on key child care assistance policies, including income eligibility limits, parent copayments, provider payment rates, and eligibility policies for parents searching for work.

Click the link to learn more: Warning Signs: State Child Care Assistance Policies 2025.

The post Study: Waiting Lists for Child Care Assistance Nearly Doubled appeared first on BlackPressUSA.