A Virtual Discussion with Special Guests Philip Mangano, Tod Lipka, Andy Meyers, Jason Elliott, and Tom Hernandez
Thank you to all who joined us on April 29 for Scaling Housing Solutions for Individuals Experiencing Homelessness: Hotel/Motel Conversions. MHSA extends our special thanks to Philip Mangano, Tod Lipka, Andy Meyers, Jason Elliott, and Tom Hernandez for sharing their insights on lessons learned from California’s Project Homekey.
To learn more about Project Homekey, we invite you to read the report Homekey: A Journey Home.
The webinar recording is also now available online.
Let’s seize this opportunity to convert underutilized hotels in Massachusetts to permanent supportive housing. Please be in touch with MHSA with questions and/or opportunities related to hotel conversions in this state – you can reach out to Caitlin Golden at cgolden@mhsa.net.
About the Webinar
The increasing number of the most vulnerable and disabled individuals living long-term on the streets and languishing in shelters is only likely to grow as we continue to experience the aftershock effects of the pandemic across the nation. But the current housing development system will need new strategies to accelerate the development of safe, supportive housing.
California’s Project HomeKey provides a new record of success, with lower costs and faster results, awarding funding for cities and counties to acquire and convert hotels/motels into an estimated 6,600 permanent housing units, in most cases within a year. $5 billion in new federal HOME dollars now allocated by the American Rescue Plan allows for the conversion of hotels and motels to permanent supportive housing.
Learn about the potential of hotel/motel conversion from Philip Mangano, who is working throughout California and with other states, developers, and providers to advance this model through public-private partnership; Tod Lipka, President and CEO of Step Up; Andy Meyers, CEO and Owner, Shangri-La Construction; Jason Elliott, Senior Counselor to California Governor Gavin Newsom and Point Person on Project Homekey; and Tom Hernandez, Chief of Homeless Services, San Bernardino County, CA. MHSA Senior Director of Policy & Programs Joyce Tavon joined the speakers for a timely discussion.