Homeless Prevention Rental Help Available to Ventura County Residents

Through the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Ventura County Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP) makes federal funds available to local residents who are homeless or about to be evicted. County and city government have joined efforts to operate HPRP, ensuring that eligible County residents receive help when they need it most.

Basic eligibility criteria includes:

• Homeless or facing eviction within 30 days
• Household income limit based on family size
• Financially able to maintain housing after rental assistance is received
• Ventura County resident and U.S. citizen or qualified resident alien
• Additional criteria and details at THIS LINK.

Eligible HPRP applicants may receive various types of assistance, including eviction prevention rental payment, rental deposit, short-term rental payment, credit counseling, utility deposit/payment, moving and storage costs and case management.

Case managers work closely with clients to develop and implement a service plan to ensure that they receive full benefits.  Through HPRP, clients are stabilized in housing and assisted comprehensively to help ensure that they do not face homelessness again.

Visit www.vchsa.org/hprp or call 805.385.8585 for additional information.

Why Are There No Ventura County Cities on MONEY Magazine's America's 100 Best Small Cities List?

The August 2010 issue of MONEY Magazine published its annual list of "100 Best Places to Live in America." I have subscribed to MONEY for years and each year my wife reviews the list and tells me 3 other places she would like to consider moving to. To which I reply:

I LIKE IT WHERE WE LIVE!

Curious, I reviewed MONEY's 2010 list and there was not a single Ventura County city on it.

MONEY's methodology was to start out with the 746 U.S. cities with a population of 50,000 to 300,000*, remove median incomes greater than 200% or below 85% of the state median, retirement communities, large job losses and poor education scores, then rank the remaining cities based on housing affordability, education, arts/leisure, health care, safety and other factors. *This methodology eliminates fine cities like Agoura and Moorpark from consideration.

Then they whittle down the list based on economic factors and visit 30 of the cities to select the winner.

Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Camarillo and Oxnard, all cities between 50,000 and 300,000, are nowhere to be found on the list.

I looked back at MONEY's Top 100 lists going back to 2005 and only once, Simi Valley in 2006 (#35), has a Ventura County city been included on this list. Something ain't right here!

Well it should be noted that Newbury Park, albeit not officially a city (it is part of Thousand Oaks), made it to #71 on the 2005 list. But that was 5 years ago!

Why is it that cities like Piscataway, NJ, Centreville, VA, Roswell, GA and Stillwater, OK made the list but not a single city from Ventura County has made the list  going back to 2006!?

MONEY, are you reading this? Come visit Ventura County why doncha and check out what we have to offer! Yah, all right, it is still a bit pricey to live here, but we have hundreds of things to do and all sorts of local events year round,  kids' activities and plenty more!

No offense, but I'm not leaving the Conejo Valley for Owensboro, KY, Gilbert, AZ, O'Fallon, MO or Millcreek, PA any time soon. I'm staying put right here in America's #1 county, Ventura County! :>

For the record though, here are the top 10 cities on the 2010 list: Eden Prairie, MN, Columbia/Ellicott City, MD, Newton, MA, Bellevue, WA, McKinney, TX, Fort Collins, CO, Overland Park, KS, Fishers, IN, Ames, IA and Rogers, AZ.

Seniors Need More Than Drivers Honking as They Pass Them by in Thousand Oaks

By Nancy Needham (nancy@conejovalleyguide.com)

Surrounded by affluence, fragile seniors are out in front of Thousand Oaks City Hall today as they brave hot weather to bring attention to their plight. Some of the new cars passing them by honked supportively. Friendly people waved at them.  People ages 65 to 95, almost all with distressing medical conditions, stood with signs touting “Elder Abuse,” “Honk for Granny” or descriptions explaining how proposed rent increases to mobile home parks are going to result in homelessness for many of them.

With the $64 million Civic Arts Plaza as a backdrop, the seniors pushed walkers, sat in lawn chairs or rode up and down the street in disability scooters. Some ventured across Thousand Oaks Boulevard to rally in front of the $6 million park Gardens of the World. Next door to the garden people ordered from a menu at Mastro’s Steakhouse that includes an $85 lobster tail and a $10 side order of mashed potatoes. Nearby is the parcel of land the city purchased this year for $3.25 million, without a stated purpose for owning. Also within a few yards are the 10 parking spaces the city recently added at The Lakes for $400,000.

But, there is no relief for these seniors who seem to be entirely on their own. No churches bring them cold bottles of water. Very little shade. It’s as if the community has forgotten them. Among those holding signs are those who fought in WWII, longtime residents and people who thought they’d be safe retiring in a place zoned as rent-controlled for low-income seniors.They started there at 9 a.m. and plan to stay until 5 p.m. The group Save Our Seniors (S.O.S.) is hoping to bring to the community’s attention that the park owner for Thunderbird Oaks Mobile Home Park and Ranch Mobile Home Park has proposed rent increases that most of the residents will not be able to afford to pay. At Thunderbird the increase proposed is a $260 per month. At Ranch it is a $587 per month increase.

Chairperson for Save Our Seniors (S.O.S.) Marilyn Aurand, 65, and Bob Prehmus, 73, rally for seniors outside of Thousand Oaks City Hall in hopes of making the community aware of their plight as Thunderbird Oaks Mobile Home Park residents who fear a proposed rent increase of $260 per month if the park owner gets his way.  Bob said he moved to the mobile home park from Bakersfield earlier this year because he thought the park was rent controlled. “I wouldn’t have moved in if I’d known this was going to happen. I can’t afford it,” he said. “They are trying to destroy us. They will make some of us homeless with 50 to 60 percent of us not able to pay the increase. Where will those who can’t afford to pay it go?” Marilyn said.

This is not the first protest Helen Troy, 78, has been a part of in Thousand Oaks. Actually, this city might not even be Thousand Oaks if it wasn’t for Helen. Back 50 years ago some property owner named Janss wanted to name the newly forming town Conejo City. Helen got signatures on a petition. Naming the city was put on the ballot. Then she worked to make sure the town got the more dignified name of Thousand Oaks.  Now she’s on the street holding the sign “Honk for Granny” hoping somebody cares about what will happen to local seniors such as herself will see it. Ranch Mobile Home Park, where she lives, has proposed a 500 percent rent increase.  If it happens, fragile seniors could be put out on the street.

She is not going to take it even if it means she has to push her walker up and down the street in front of City Hall all daylong. With the sun beating down on her, Audrey Fayloga, 68, who has multiple sclerosis and arthritis, joins other seniors who are trying to prevent proposed rent increases at Thunderbird Oaks Mobile Home Park and Ranch Mobile Home Park. Seniors living at the mobile home parks cannot afford to pay the increases. She and the other seniors are frightened. One of the mobile home park residents has already had a stroke and many of the seniors said they think it was due to the stress of the proposed rent increases and the fear of being homeless.

Standing in the hot sun. Riding up and down Thousand Oaks Boulevard on an electric mobility scooter. This is not the first time World War II veteran Charles Sallia, 86, has battled against all odds. His friends call him Sal. When he was 17 he was in the Naval Air Force fighting for freedom in the central pacific.  I

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