Address to City Council re: Homelessness

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Hello Everyone. My name is Chris Herrod. Thank you Mayor, for agendizing this important issue and thanks to everyone at Reach for Home, the participating volunteers and the city for their work on this important issue. My hope is that what you have presented here is a foundation.
 Starting today, let's move forward with the conversation about establishing a city-run encampment that provides basic shelter, water, bathrooms and other essential amenities to our shelter less population. It has been demonstrated again and again that providing shelter should come prior to addressing the mental health and social issues that contribute to homelessness. Shelter provides the critical first rung out of chronic homelessness. It's more effective, more humane and will help protect our natural environment in and around Healdsburg. We have both the spiritual and the economic resources to make this facility happen. Winter weather is coming, more brutal and aimless homeless camp sweeps are coming. Let's enact bolt leadership to show that Healdsburg has the heart and the intelligence to address homelessness in this most basic, most compassionate and most effective way.

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