Bringing Our Community Home, an organization that has been in effect since 2008, has a “10 year plan” to end chronic homelessness in the Santa Barbara County by 2018.
As part of that plan, the organization is welcoming a new executive director, John Buttny. Buttny is a well-known community member with more than 30 years of community leadership and public service experience. Bringing Our Community Home believes he is the perfect person for the task at hand—the fight to end homelessness.
“The governing board is looking to John’s leadership as we move closer to our goal of eradicating homelessness in Santa Barbara County by 2018,” said Jeanette Duncan, board chair and executive director of Peoples’ Self-Help Housing.
Buttny served as an executive staff member to the 3rd District Santa Barbara County supervisor for 20 years. He is a member of the Hospital Discharge Planning Group formed to prevent the discharge of homeless people back to the streets. Buttny received his undergraduate philosophy degree from the University of New Hampshire, and attended the graduate philosophy program at the University of Colorado.
Each year, more than 6,300 county residents experience homelessness, according to a press release from Bringing Our Community Home. A conservative estimate suggests that nearly 1,000 chronically homeless people within this group are costing the community more than $18 million annually in services and other assistance, while still remaining unstable, un-housed, and without any hope of real change. A large percentage of these individuals have serious mental illnesses.
Within the county, total spending on homelessness now surpasses $36 million per year, according to the release.
“As we move at full swing into the implementation phase of the plan, we are truly working together countywide to achieve the goal, both visionary and practical, to end and prevent chronic homelessness for good in our community,” Buttny said in
the release.
For more information about Bringing Our Community Home , call 687-3322.
Intern Gabby Hendriksen compiled this week’s Community Corner. Send comments or ideas to the Sun via e-mail at intern@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in May 21-28, 2009.
