Sonoma County Homeless Coalition Strategic Plan

The Sonoma County Sonoma County 5 Year Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness was prepared at the direction of the Sonoma County Homeless Coalition, a body of representatives from County government, cities, service providers, persons with lived experience in homelessness, the faith community, and others. Community and stakeholder input led to the development of three overarching goals, as approved by the Sonoma County Homeless Coalition Board on December 14, 2022. This Plan will guide the direction of the homeless system of care in Sonoma County for the next five years:

1. Invest in more housing and prevention. It is imperative to reduce the inflow of people into homelessness and create more pathways to long-term housing stability. Doing so will require investments in both homelessness prevention and housing solutions.
2. Strengthen supportive services. The current system of care strains to meet the complex and diverse supportive services needs of people in the community who are experiencing the crisis of homelessness. That strain is felt not only by people experiencing homelessness, but also by homeless service providers, who are overtaxed and under-resourced. Building supportive services capacity is critical to ease this strain and better meet the needs of those in a housing crisis.
3. Operate as one coordinated system. Sonoma is a large county with many local governments and a broad array of service providers and other stakeholders whose work directly or indirectly impacts homelessness. To achieve functional zero, partners across the county must work to develop shared priorities, aligned investments, seamless coordination, and equitable solutions to the crisis of homelessness.