On Dec. 14 the Palisadian-Post published a reader’s letter criticizing The People Concern, the Santa-Monica agency that works with the Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness. The response has been equally vigorous. We published a first selection here: more letters may follow.
People Concern-1
I found it heartbreaking and maddening that you printed the fact-less article about OPCC/The People Concern without any counterpoint from the organization. What kind of journalism is that? I’ve been a regular volunteer with OPCC/The People Concern for over 20 years.
I began by delivering clothes to the Access Center in the mid-’90s and then making sack lunches for the Access Center clients. After that, I got involved with Turning Point Transitional Shelter, Samoshel Shelter, and Daybreak Shelter.
During my many years with various projects, I’ve seen firsthand the incredible dedication, skill and care of the staff, and the fine leadership of the management team. I’ve known the homeless people whose lives have been changed. Many of these people have lost hope because their mental and physical health is so frail, and their spirits have been broken.
It takes special training, and a special kind of dedication to lift folks out of their despair and return their hope and dignity. There are so many barriers for social services agencies like OPCC/The People Concern, and I am inspired by the staff’s tenacity, resilience, and determination to change lives for the better.
OPCC/The People Concern is an incredible organization and they deserve our thanks. We are lucky they are participating with the PPTFH to help us take care of the homeless people in our community. I would encourage the Palisadian-Post to do some research before they print letters with false claims.
Jocelyn Cortese
People Concern-2
We have been subscribers to the Palisadian-Post since 1976, back to when the Post printed the Pali High Tideline in your offices. The December 14th Letter to the Editor by a “concerned citizen” regarding the People Concern (formerly OPCC) set a new low for malicious disinformation and false accusations.
I am surprised you printed it.
I am pleased to be a major supporter of the Access Center, the main entry point for The People Concern’s services providing our homeless neighbors with immediate access to showers, lockers, meals, medical treatment, therapy, and, ultimately, permanent housing supported by highly skilled and trained multi-disciplinary teams who keep those they serve housed, healthy, and safe.
This is the initial entry point for the homeless from Pacific Palisades, Malibu and Santa Monica.
I am also a major supporter of the Housing First program at The People Concern that successfully takes individuals off the streets and guides them into a program in which 95% of those housed are never homeless again. This program is nationally recognized for its efficacy.
The bottom line is whether you work, live, dine, shop or visit Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades or Malibu, you have benefitted from the services of The People Concern.
They have reduced the local homeless population by 1/3 and they deserve our support. At this holiday season, all of us should be grateful for their work.
James Montgomery
People Concern-3
The claims being made in the Palisadian-Post about The People Concern are not only untrue and unsubstantiated, but counter to the culture of our organization and what we stand for as an agency. It’s extremely unfortunate that false statements are being circulated by individuals who represent themselves as “concerned citizens,” instead of the angry, vindictive people they are, promoting a personal agenda and using homeless people and our agency as a way to get attention.
The People Concern is absolutely committed to serving those in need. That encompasses the well being of our program participants who have physical and mental disabilities, and our commitment to care includes providing reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities and adhering to Fair Housing laws.
The safety and welfare of all of our program participants is of the utmost importance to us. As such, we would never allow or initiate any actions that would jeopardize or threaten the well being of program participants. We would never allow or initiate any practices that would violate the rights of or discriminate against program participants, including those with disabilities. And, we would never turn a blind eye to any reports of misconduct or mistreatment.
The work that we do in our community is service oriented and, by necessity, it is highly individualized, based around building trust and strong relationships with our most vulnerable in neighborhoods across Los Angeles County.
We make an investment in hiring qualified staff members trained to provide the highest level of service to our potential and current program participants. From the outreach workers in the field, personally connecting with those currently experiencing homelessness, to the case managers assigned to each of our program participants, our goal is to ensure the best care, support and outcomes for the people we serve.
A clear and accessible grievance policy exists and is followed; all complaints are and have been investigated and addressed appropriately; and a director of training was hired earlier this year to help coordinate and increase regular training for staff that the agency already provides for working with people who have experienced severe trauma.
The agency is subjected to rigorous oversight from multiple government bodies. We are audited from both a fiscal and programmatic standpoint multiple times a year. These audits include visits to our facilities, and interviews with our staff and program participants.
We are proud that we not only meet or exceed the standards expected by the many regulators to which we answer, but we are often used as the standard of excellence. Many of our programs and services have been replicated as best practices locally and nationally.
Our mission as an agency, for over 50 years, has been rooted in helping our community’s most vulnerable neighbors rebuild their lives. Through coordination with the Palisades community, we have worked in pursuit of our shared goal to reach out to individuals experiencing homelessness.
In the first year we partnered together to provide outreach and services, the rate of homelessness in Pacific Palisades was reduced by 50 percent. This achievement was made possible through the strong partnership we have with the Palisades community.
It is unfortunate that because of the claims being made, our energy must shift to refuting falsehoods—energy that could be better spent working on our mission to ensure everyone is housed, healthy and safe.
However, we will continue our commitment to the community to provide the highest level of service, care and support to those in need, and to continue striving for a day when homelessness is a thing of the past.
John Maceri | The People Concern
People Concern-4
On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness (PPTFH) we write in response to the “Community Call” letter published by the Palisadian-Post on December 14, 2017. We have extensive experience with and knowledge about The People Concern (formerly known as OPCC) which we want to share with the Post and our community.
Throughout 2015 PPTFH researched best practices and comprehensive service providers in order to determine our approach to address the destructive consequences of homelessness in the Palisades. Our research found that The People Concern was one of the highest rated agencies for successfully assisting homeless people into permanent housing (with a 95% retention rate) and one of the most highly regarded of the comprehensive service providers in our region and state.
After conducting an RFP process, we selected and contracted with The People Concern to provide Pacific Palisades with a full time, professional outreach team to work with our community to address homelessness. Since January 2016 we have worked closely with all levels of The People Concern, often on a daily basis. We have achieved a 50% reduction in the number of homeless individuals in our community and 73% of our resident homeless individuals are in transitional or permanent supportive housing. We have reduced the number of occupied homeless encampments from 57 to 5. These remarkable accomplishments are due to The People Concern’s diligent, skilled, professional and compassionate commitment to helping persons that are physically and/or mentally vulnerable.
Our outreach team has consistently demonstrated thoughtful kindness, respect, compassion and professional, caring services and behavior as they work with the homeless people in our community. We have a PPTFH oversight committee that meets with The People Concern monthly to evaluate the status of work of our outreach team and the homeless individuals they are working with from the Palisades. We admire and respect The People Concern organization and particularly their staff for their personal sacrifices in serving our homeless individuals and our Pacific Palisades community.
We understand that The People Concern is constrained by the Health Information Patient Privacy Act (HIPPA) in publically responding to the statements made about them and admire the integrity that they maintain while dealing with these current circumstances.
PPTFH remains committed to serving and protecting the Palisades community and partnering with The People Concern to provide our homeless persons with professional and compassionate services. Our continued work depends upon the continued informed support of our entire community.
PPTFH Executive Committee
Doug Mc Cormick, President
Sharon Browning, Vice President
David Morena, Secretary-Treasurer
People Concern-4
On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness (PPTFH) we write in response to the “Community Call” letter published by the Palisadian-Post on December 14, 2017. We have extensive experience with and knowledge about The People Concern (formerly known as OPCC) which we want to share with the Post and our community.
Throughout 2015 PPTFH researched best practices and comprehensive service providers in order to determine our approach to address the destructive consequences of homelessness in the Palisades. Our research found that The People Concern was one of the highest rated agencies for successfully assisting homeless people into permanent housing (with a 95% retention rate) and one of the most highly regarded of the comprehensive service providers in our region and state.
After conducting an RFP process, we selected and contracted with The People Concern to provide Pacific Palisades with a full time, professional outreach team to work with our community to address homelessness. Since January 2016 we have worked closely with all levels of The People Concern, often on a daily basis. We have achieved a 50% reduction in the number of homeless individuals in our community and 73% of our resident homeless individuals are in transitional or permanent supportive housing. We have reduced the number of occupied homeless encampments from 57 to 5. These remarkable accomplishments are due to The People Concern’s diligent, skilled, professional and compassionate commitment to helping persons that are physically and/or mentally vulnerable.
Our outreach team has consistently demonstrated thoughtful kindness, respect, compassion and professional, caring services and behavior as they work with the homeless people in our community. We have a PPTFH oversight committee that meets with The People Concern monthly to evaluate the status of work of our outreach team and the homeless individuals they are working with from the Palisades. We admire and respect The People Concern organization and particularly their staff for their personal sacrifices in serving our homeless individuals and our Pacific Palisades community.
We understand that The People Concern is constrained by the Health Information Patient Privacy Act (HIPPA) in publically responding to the statements made about them and admire the integrity that they maintain while dealing with these current circumstances.
PPTFH remains committed to serving and protecting the Palisades community and partnering with The People Concern to provide our homeless persons with professional and compassionate services. Our continued work depends upon the continued informed support of our entire community.
PPTFH Executive Committee,
Doug Mc Cormick, President
Sharon Browning, Vice President
David Morena, Secretary-Treasurer
Fake News
Your editor’s praise of the Tom Hanks/Steven Spielberg movie “The Post” (about 1971 newspaper revelations that US governments knew they would lose the Vietnam war) misses one danger to today’s newspapers: The phrase “fake news’ legitimized by our president to undermine the legitimacy of media outlets he does not like is now parroted by governments in Russia, Venezuela, China and Syria and The Philippines – which might tell you something about the club that squirms under newspaper scrutiny. And why we need all newspapers, from the Washington Post to our own Palisadian-Post. Long may they irritate.
John Axelson | Alphabet Streets
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