HMIS6

RIVERSIDE COUNTY 10

SUCCESS STORY Riverside County launched Project Roomkey in April 2020 to rapidly shelter homeless individuals and help slow the spread of the coronavirus. The coordinated effort between state and local governments to house vulnerable residents in hotel and motel units brought lessons to providers countywide. Members of the Continuum of Care (CoC) helped house more than 700 at-risk individuals in the first weeks of the coronavirus pandemic as part of Project Roomkey. In May, Riverside County became one of just four California communi- ties to answer Governor Newsom’s 100-Day Challenge to transition dozens of vulnerable seniors from the emergency hotel and motel program into permanent housing, while providing wraparound services. Teams from DPSS, the Office on Aging, RUHS Behavioral Health HOPE Collabora- tive, and the Department of Housing, Homelessness Prevention and Workforce Solutions joined with CoC providers to transition more than 100 seniors into per- manent housing in the first 100 days. The collaboration continued and a total of 108 seniors have been permanently housed by the end of November, moving toward the goal of permanently housing all seniors identified in Project Roomkey. Communication, cooperation and collaboration have been the framework for Project Roomkey, enabling public and private agencies to develop a seamless and effective client-centered approach. Across the county, service providers are work- ing on agreements to streamline information and resource sharing to better serve clients in crisis. The project’s success led to a recent $10.5 million grant to contin- ue permanent housing solutions for individuals considered most at risk. Project RoomKey Unlocks Solutions