No illicit drugs or alcohol are permitted at the Welcome Home Village. While sobriety is not a requirement of the program, residents with substantial behavioral health conditions that may be affecting the success of themselves or their neighbors will be referred to a clinic specifically tailored for treating those conditions.

No visitors are allowed on site with the exception of service providers and community resource agency representatives whose presence is necessary for the success of the site and its residents.

Pre-scheduled and escorted facility tours will be permitted on a limited basis to maintain the peaceful environment necessary for the rest and growth of the site's residents.

The Welcome Home Village is not a publicly accessible shelter and no admittance to the program will be permitted for any walk-ins. All program referrals are done by local homeless service providers through a fair and consistent countywide assessment process known as the Coordinated Entry System.

The Welcome Home Village accepts referrals from local homeless service providers, such as Good Samaritan, Transitions Mental Health Association, and CAPSLO, and government programs, including the City of San Luis Obispo's Field Teams and the County Behavioral Health. Individuals living in the Bob Jones Encampment Corridor will be evaluated and their information placed into the Coordinated Entry System, a standardized intake assessment and referral system. After their initial intake, a person's unique needs will be assessed to determine which program will be the best fit for them.

Additional information for referral submissions will be available in October 2023.

The 40 Prado Homeless Services Center is a congregate overnight shelter run by CAPSLO that provides on-site services to program participants and walk-ins, including meals, showers, laundry, and access to case management. Participants that choose to stay in the overnight shelter are allowed to check-in after 4:30pm, sleep overnight on a provided cot in a shared room with other program participants, and may be asked to leave before 7:00am. CAPSLO's acute response services are critical in the mission to reduce homelessness in San Luis Obispo County.

In contrast, the Welcome Home Village is a non-congregate supportive housing program. People living at Welcome Home Village will be provided a private room that allows them to stabilize, address their wellness concerns, and begin developing an exit plan to stable housing. All residents must engage in mandatory case management and actively pursue permanent housing. The community amenities, including internet access, laundry, food services, restrooms, a dog run, and playground, are only offered to current residents. 

The Welcome Home Village will not provide any services to the general public or walk-ins. Instead, potential residents are identified by Good Samaritan's housing navigation staff and collaborating outreach partners prior to referral to the Welcome Home Village. Oftentimes, people are engaged in individualized case management for months prior to their entry to the Welcome Home Village to ensure the participant's success and the success of their fellow residents.

The Welcome Home Village will be the location of two different programs:

• Those enrolled in the interim supportive housing program will be enrolled in a "90-day program," where residents will seek stabilization and permanent housing for the duration of the program. For those needing additional time but on their way to a sustainable and healthful lifestyle, a reasonable and limited extension will be permitted. Residents in similar programs on the Central Coast have an average length of stay of approximately 100 days.
• The permanent supportive housing program will provide a long-term and stable housing option for residents in need of long-term rental assistance and supportive services. People that live in permanent supportive housing environments include the elderly, those with mental or physical disabilities, and people that need supportive housing services for a longer period of time than provided in the interim housing program before finding self-sufficiency. An example of permanent supportive housing is T-MHA's Bishop Street Studios located near Johnson Avenue in San Luis Obispo.

Welcome Home Village will have staff and security professionals on site 24/7. The security will be contracted by a private security company. In addition, the community will be under constant video surveillance with cameras scattered throughout the property and at all entrances.

Several Central Coast communities have been using the supportive housing models to restore community gathering places and vibrant economic hubs.

Isla Vista 

In 2021, the People's Park and the surrounding areas in Isla Vista was no longer safe for use by community members due to illicit camping. The County of Santa Barbara contracted Good Samaritan Shelter to establish a 20-unit interim supportive housing community in Isla Vista to help stabilize and relocate those living in People's Park (edhat, 2020). During its 12 months of operations, Good Samaritan's program was able to permanently place nearly 50 individuals (Thorton, 2021). Today, People's Park is still clear of encampments and remains accessible and safe for all members of the public.

Santa Barbara

The Dignity Moves project has been quietly operating in the heart of Downtown Santa Barbara since August 2022. Despite initial hesitancies about the project among nearby business, neighbors have been surprised by how quiet the site is and the reduction of people sleeping on sidewalks in the downtown district. There have been no complaints of loitering or an increase in crime incidents near the site (Welsh, 2022; Welsh, 2023). As of June 2023, the Downtown Santa Barbara project has successfully placed 24 people.

Grover Beach

The 5cities Homeless Coalition is the service provider behind Cabins for Change, a 20-unit interim supportive housing community in Grover Beach. The facility provides its residents with 24/7 support, case management, and connections to food services, recovery and housing stabilization guidance. As of July 2023, 17 people have successfully graduated to permanent housing since it opened in late December 2022.

Most of the residents moving to Welcome Home Village will not have a vehicle since people referred to this program have been living unsheltered in the Bob Jones Bike Trail encampment corridor and do not have access to a vehicle. A very limited number of residents may be allowed to park their vehicles on the premises of the Welcome Home Village provided that the vehicle is registered, insured, and in good working order.

Residents will be encouraged to use alternative forms of transportation:

• Walking: The neighborhood surrounding the Welcome Home Village is considered to be walkable for activities such as completing errands, buying groceries, and employment opportunities.
• Biking: The City of San Luis Obispo is host to world-class biking infrastructure that allows the majority of daily errands to be accomplished by bicycle.
• Public Transit: The SLO Transit System has two bus stops directly outside the perimeter of the Welcome Home Village. This will allow residents to use the bus to travel throughout the City or, after reaching the Downtown Transit Center, throughout the County using the San Luis Obispo Regional Transit Authority (RTA).

For necessary appointments that are not reachable by alternative forms of transportation due to location or schedule needs, a resident transportation service is offered.

This project will adhere to the same parking restrictions that are currently in place in the neighbrhood.

The Welcome Home Village is an "encampment resolution project," and is specifically intended to provide services and housing to those currently living in the Bob Jones Bike Trail Encampment Corridor, a section of open space that is parallel to the 101 in San Luis Obispo and spans from the Prado Road and S. Higuera Street intersection to near the 101 Southbound Freeway onramp at S. Higuera Street. Those currently living in the Bob Jones Bike Trail Encampment Corridor will be given priority placement into the Welcome Home Village.

Throughout California, there are currently hundreds of projects in the pipeline, each of which is intended to address the homeless issues specifically found within each project's immediate vicinity. Within San Luis Obispo County alone, there are currently 7 different supportive housing projects in development. Each of those projects is being designed with the intent to resolve the unique homelessness issues found in their surrounding communities.