ABOUT THE WELLNESS CENTER CAMPUS

The Wellness Center Campus will be the first facility of its kind in San Bernardino County, and it will play a critical role in helping homeless individuals stabilize and rebuild their lives. The innovative design of the campus will allow the Wellness Center to serve several functions by providing the following:

• A low-barrier, emergency shelter
• Recuperative care facility
• Medical Clinic
• Interim housing, and
• Wraparound supportive services

Some of the supportive services will include case management, care coordination (medical, mental health and dental) job training/placement and housing navigation. The Wellness Center will also provide a recuperative care facility and an onsite medical clinic that will be available to members of the community who are Medi-Cal or Medicare eligible.

UNIQUE & INNOVATIVE

This unique and innovative campus design will provide interim housing occupants a level of privacy, comfort, and security in their designated living unit (single, double, or family occupancy). Campus features include:

• Multiple restrooms & showers for men and women (family units have private restrooms)
• Medical clinic (3 exam rooms)
• Cafeteria & Dining Hall
• Recreation/Lounge Area
• Various Office Spaces
• Private Interview Rooms
• Personal Storage Bins
• Kennel areas & Dog Walk

CAMPUS FEATURES

The Wellness Center Campus will be located on approximately 4.5 acres of City-owned land and it will provide 170 beds to accommodate men, women & families (bed capacity can be increased if needed)

• Families (21 beds)
• Single Men (48 beds)
• Single Women (24 bds)
• Recuperative Care Patients (53 beds)
• Behavioral Health-Mild to Moderate (24 beds)

Courtyard- The courtyard is the core area of the Wellness Center where most of the essential activities will take place:THE CHALLENGE

The City of Victorville has the second-highest concentration of homeless persons in all of San Bernardino County.  California's housing crisis has forced cities to address major social issues like homelessness without adequate resources and infrastructure to resolve the problem.  Cities are being sued in Federal Court for "punishing' or "criminalizing' the homeless and must provide adequate shelter before they can truly address the issue of enforcing anti-camping ordinances.  In order to restore balance back to our community and public spaces like parks, libraries and recreation centers, we must have adequate shelter, beds and a collaborative solution to direct homeless individuals to resources and housing.

THE CITY'S ROLE

• The City of Victorville has agreed to construct the Wellness Center Campus on 4.5 acres of City owned land using modular construction. The site will be located at 16902 First Street Victorville, CA 92395.
• The City will contract with a professional organization(s) to oversee operations and provide immediate shelter and recuperative care services.
• The City has identified contingency and grant funds to support annual operations of the Wellness Center Campus and is working with the County and other entities for additional financial support.
• The City will continue to form strategic partnerships to further support operations.

PROJECT FUNDING SOURCES 

The City is applying for and has secured various funding to help with the construction and operation of the Wellness Center Campus.

• CDBG
• ESG-CV+ Round 2
• PLHA Grant
• ARPA
• Measure P
• HHAP Funds Rounds 1-4
• Project Homekey
• HUD Funding (results pending)

Wellness Center PROGESS

The City has taken steps to fund the project and make the project ready for construction. The following key milestones are listed below:

• September 2021, the City Council approved Resolution No. 21-101 authorizing staff to pursue funding from the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) for HomeKey Program funds to construct and operate the Wellness Center (the “Project”).
• December 2021, the City was notified by HCD of an award in the amount of $28,004,058 under Homekey Round 2 for the Wellness Center project, of which $23,612,058 was awarded to fund capital construction costs and $4,392,000 for operational expenses.
• March 2022, City Council approved approved the initial construction contract for the construction of Phase 1 of the Project to Angeles Contractors Inc.
• April 2022, construction for Phase 1 started. The scope of the Phase 1 construction includes the following: the Victor Valley Wastewater Reclamation Authority (VVWRA) Interceptor through the project boundaries; grading of the site; a stormwater detention basin; and underground utilities for storm drain, sewer, domestic water, fire suppression, electrical and gas. The project was separated into two construction phases to start site construction as soon as feasible to comply with Homekey grant deadline.
• April 2022, the City Council approved contracts with Connect Homes for the manufacturing of 46 modular shelter units, and Urban Bloc for the manufacturing of five modular bathroom units.
• June 2022, the City Council approved a second contract with Connect Homes for the manufacturing of modular units for four community buildings. The manufactured buildings are progressing on schedule at the factories.  As of September 2022, Connect Homes has already completed all of the shelter buildings within their factory and are gearing up to start the manufacturing of the community buildings. Urban Bloc is also progressing on the 5 community bathroom buildings. Attached are recent progress reports with pictures from both Connect Homes and Urban Bloc.
• August 2022, The City Council approved the Phase 2 construction contract for the remaining site work to Angeles Contractors Inc. The scope of the Phase 2 construction includes: a sewer lift station and grease interceptor; street improvements, a fire access road, a parking lot; building foundations; anchoring the modular buildings to the foundations; electrical wiring; utility connections to the buildings; finishes on the community buildings; food service equipment in the cafeteria building; wood decking for porches and patios; accessible concrete sidewalk and paths; irrigation; landscaping; fencing; gates; and other miscellaneous improvements.
• February 2023, 46 of the Connect Home modular shelter units and the five Urban Bloc modular restroom units were installed onto foundations.
• March 2023, the remaining 24 Connect Homes community building units are scheduled to be delivered to the site to be set on foundations. The animal kennels are also scheduled for delivery. 

THE RESULT

The safety and security of residents and businesses is the City's primary goal.  This Wellness Center Campus will prove beneficial in providing life-changing resources necessary to drastically reduce homelessness and positively transition people back into society.

CONTACT

For additional information, please contact our Homelessness Solutions Manager, Antoinette (Nettie) Jackson at ajackson@victorvilleca.gov or (760) 955-5280 or our Homelessness Solutions Coordinator, William Lamas at wlamas@victrovilleca.gov