{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"KZYX News","title":"Tenants moving in to Live Oak","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":387,"description":"April 19, 2021 — Today, about seventy people who have been homeless or at high risk for it are moving into Live Oak Apartments, a former Best Western Inn in Ukiah. The building is part of the state’s Project Homekey initiative. Last year, counties got money specifically to buy lodging establishments and convert them into permanent housing for vulnerable populations. Mendocino County received $9.6 million, and has spent most of the time since purchasing the building installing kitchenettes and remodeling common areas. The priorities have been seniors, veterans, families with kids, and people who are especially susceptible to a bad outcome if they get covid-19.\r\nOne 70-year-old wheelchair-bound tenant has been living in a car for a year. Another elderly tenant’s story is largely unknown due to severe short-term memory loss. Megan van Sant, a senior program manager with the county’s Health and Human Services Agency, has been able to unravel that this tenant does have a work history and therefore access to social security benefits, but has no ID, no bank cards, and no memory of where their money is. \r\nVan Sant gave a tour of the building last week, before anyone had moved any of their things into the rooms. Beds were stripped, and a few light fixtures were laid out on countertops, prior to being installed. Some of the rooms had multiple sinks, to satisfy funding requirements about kitchenettes and facilities. \r\nThere will be 25 children in the building, including one with special needs, whose single parent had to stop working when school closed. But sometimes it’s just bad credit that makes it hard to get ahead. Four of the living units are double rooms, to accommodate families with several children.\r\nAnother single parent is blind and will have to seek regular treatments at the dialysis center, which is a block away in a neighborhood shopping complex.\r\nAs of last week, 37 households had been accepted into the program. Some of those households consist of one person,...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/xZpAumwbhFUpJUYcwaQ1-q6snzOyqAm13l7cW6AWPCM/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mMzkz/NjAwNjc2OWMyZmFk/YWY2YTdmYjI5M2Mz/YWMxNy5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}