For a Club Program (at a regular Club Meeting), Mesa Farm Executive Director Dan Parziale and County Supervisor Matt LaVere gave a presentation about the Mesa Farm Project at our meeting July 12, 2024. The project seeks to prevent homelessness by giving young people transitional housing, wellness offerings, vocational support and community connection. Its pilot program in Ojai is progressing toward opening.
Dan feels that if we spend all our resources on the chronic homeless, we will never catch up or make progress. Instead we need to work "upstream" to help those who would otherwise become homeless.
Mesa Farm is a pilot program in Ojai that will soon house its first residents. Twelve young adults from throughout Ventura County will be selected to live on the property for 24 months free of charge. They will receive vocational training and physical, mental, and emotional wellness. Each participant will have their own personalized program. They will live in ten 270 square-foot tiny homes, fully furnished, with a larger building for additional residents and staff.
Residents must be 18 to 24 years old and experiencing homelessness or be at high risk of homelessness. The program seeks community mentors to provide the residents with volunteer opportunities.
Dan hopes to expand the program to other locations in the county.
One month after the above Club Meeting, on July 17, 2024 our Club Services team had an evening meeting at the Mesa Farm’s facility and toured the newly built tiny homes for young adults.
