DignityMoves got at least three ladlesful of love at the Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting and much praise for opening the La Posada tiny-homes village on Santa Barbara County–owned property near the intersection of Modoc Road and Hollister Avenue. In accepting the proclamation, DignityMoves’ Aaron Edelheit turned the tables on the supervisors, praising them for their political leadership, terming it “magic” multiple times.
La Posada — approved, permitted, funded, and built in record time over initial opposition from some nearby neighbors — is now roughly half full (35-40 residents), populated by people who formerly lived in nearby encampments. The other 40 residents will be referred to the site by the county’s Department of Behavioral Wellness.
Unlike the downtown tiny-home village on Santa Barbara Street that opened in August 2022, there’s been more blowback on La Posada — which means either “hope” or “help” depending on who’s doing the translating. Attorneys for the Committee for Social Justice have opposed the county’s efforts to eliminate — “resolve” being the bureaucratic term of art — the existing encampments, arguing there are not enough spaces to provide shelter for all those displaced. Activists with the committee have objected to the no-friends-allowed-to-hang-out rules that prevail at the DignityMoves sites. People should not give up their rights to assemble as they see fit, they have argued.
However, such rules — and the expectation that they would be enforced — were critical in alleviating neighborhood concerns that La Posada would turn into the second coming of the Rose Garden Inn, the San Roque motel opened up for encampment refugees two years ago during the height of fire season. Failure to limit the number of visitors at the Rose Garden Inn contributed significantly to high-profile management problems and widespread neighborhood complaints.
None of that backstory was discussed at the supervisors Tuesday. According to Edelheit of DignityMoves, a private philanthropy started by youngish executives determined to bring their collective entrepreneurial know-how to bear on the crisis of homelessness, their secret sauce is combining four walls with a door that can be closed and locked — on an interim basis — with a battery of supervised services designed to help residents transition from the streets to permanent housing. In the past two years, DignityMoves has partnered with the County of Santa Barbara, private philanthropists, and the Good Samaritan Shelter to create three tiny-home villages with 208 units. By the end of the year, two more villages with about 200 additional units are slated to pop-up.
“Tonight, 35 people will be sleeping indoors who the prior night were sleeping outdoors,” said Supervisor Laura Capps, in whose district La Posada exists.
Supervisor Steve Lavagnino noted that Santa Maria’s DignityMoves village — Hope Village — was experiencing a dearth of nighttime activities. To rectify that, he said, he and Supervisor Bob Nelson would be kicking off an evening karaoke session to help foment a greater spirit of community. When asked if he would be performing, Lavagnino — a former stand-up comedian in a previous incarnation — replied, “Heck, no.”
