MORE Santa Barbara’s Safe Parking Program currently manages 154 spaces in 26 parking lots throughout Santa Barbara, Goleta, and unincorporated areas of the county. Photo courtesy of New Beginnings.
Santa Barbara started a Safe Parking program in 2004 for folks living in their vehicles. It was one of the first in the U.S. to offer a reprieve from expensive parking tickets or that 3 a.m. knock on the door plus it offered supportive services to get people into permanent housing.
The program’s been a model for similar ones, including Safe Parking LA, which began five years ago.
While programs like these rely on donations and grants, one U.S. House member wants the federal government to chip in as well. Last week, Democratic Congressman Salud Carbajal of California unveiled new legislation that would set aside $125 million in federal funds for programs targeting people living in vans, cars, and RVs.
Safe Parking Program to Expand with New Home at City-Owned Site in Lompoc
The City Council approves a lease with New Beginnings Counseling Center for property on North I Street to give homeless people a place to go at night
A city-owned lot at 428 North I St. in Lompoc that once was used by a model railroad club is set to become the first safe parking program site in the city after a lease approval with New Beginnings Counseling Center. (Janene Scully / Noozhawk photo) By Janene Scully, Noozhawk North County Editor | @JaneneScully
February 20, 2021
A proposed safe parking program in Lompoc now has a home.
More Americans Forced to Live in Their Cars Due to COVID Hardships neonnettle.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from neonnettle.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
USA TODAY
For months, Nicholas Atencio and his girlfriend, Heather Surovik, spent nearly every minute of their lives together in a 2000 Cadillac Escalade.
After Atencio, 33, lost his job as a plumber in May, he and Surovik, 36, delivered for Grubhub by day and at night curled up with their puppy on an air bed in the back of their car parked in a lot in Longmont, Colorado, dreaming of being reunited under one roof with Surovik’s teenage son who was living with his grandmother.
“I’m a mom, so I want to fix everything and make it better,” Surovik said. “It’s hard when you don t have the means to do that when you can’t do anything because you don t have anything.”