Palm Springs launches new homeless outreach program: 'Together we can make a difference'

Government
Andrewmills
Palm Springs Police Chief Andrew Mills | Palm Springs Police Department

The City of Palm Springs has launched R.I.S.E., an outreach program devoted to offering necessary resources and services for the community's homeless.

 R.I.S.E., short for Resilience, Inclusion and Support for Ending Homelessness, is "a collaboration of multiple city and county departments, local health care and other critical service providers to offer assistance with housing, substance abuse, mental health care and medical treatment for Palm Springs’ unhoused residents," the Palm Springs Police Department said on Facebook.

"Today, we witnessed the launch of R.I.S.E. (Resilience, Inclusion, Support for Ending Homelessness), by the City of Palm Springs," the Facebook announcement said. "Together, we can make a difference."

The newly-created program will provide vital services dealing with not only ending homelessness with housing support and temporary shelter but also providing behavioral and medical health assistance.

To make this program accessible to most, R.I.S.E. will be at the washes off of South Gene Autry Trail and Dinah Shore, east of Crossley Road, each Wednesday morning. Palm Springs officers were on hand for the launch of the program Wednesday, June 14, at the very site where R.I.S.E. will be based. This is a central location, putting it well within reach of those who need housing and other services.

The 2023 Riverside County Homeless Point-in-Time (PIT) Count, a federally mandated initiative, shows that homelessness is on the rise. The count demonstrated an increase of 12% from the 2022 PIT count with a total of 3,725 unhoused individuals. 

In Palm Springs itself, the PIT count revealed a total of 268 homeless individuals living in the community, which was broken down to 239 unsheltered persons and 29 sheltered. The leading causes of homelessness in Riverside County proved to be family disruption, lack of income and unemployment.

The PIT Impact report shows the county is aware of and taking steps to solve the problem of homelessness with a number of new programs. Through efforts by the Riverside Continuum of Care, Riverside County Housing Authority, the Riverside Housing and Community Development and local initiatives, a total of 14,388 individuals received assistance, the PIT Impact report said.