Council member Lorrie Brown was a featured speaker at the Task Force.
The Ventura Social Service Task Force (VSSTF), Faith Subcommittee sponsored an event on the evening of Thursday 30 September 2021 at O’Brien Hall, Mission San Buenaventura Basilica. Speakers included: Peter Gilli, Ventura City Community Development Director, City Council Member Doug Halter who reminded us of Los Angeles and Ventura’s history of exclusionary & discriminatory housing.
Council Member Lorrie Brown spoke of her life in Montalvo and gave a Call to Action to resolve the housing issues for people with low and moderate incomes. Larry Haynes, Mercy House, kept the program going. Representatives from several low-income housing developers and providers of homeless and housing service.
When Irene Johnson, Jennifer Kelley and Liz Campos offered their personal stories you could feel everyone holding their breath at the different paths to and possibly out of housing.
Part of the evening featured the opportunity to meet many of the service providers who assist people in finding housing and provide services to help people move towards housing. The Faith Subcommittee created a pamphlet outlining provider’s services.
Ventura County Supervisor Matt LaVere stated “It was very encouraging to see so many people joining together to focus on the need for more affordable housing in our community. I look forward to working with our City and nonprofit partners to address the affordable housing crisis in Ventura County.”
City Council Member Doug Halter added “We have to know history to understand how we got to where we are today”. “Now we have to do all we can to create the balance of housing that left on its own would have naturally occurred. We have to insure we have housing for all economic strata and without bias of color, race, ethnicity or sexual identity in order to be a healthy and sustainable city.”
