Many of you have your membership renewals around the start of the calendar year. The NAMI national board of directors voted to add a Household membership category to the membership structure and raise the dues for existing categories early last year. These changes were effective on July 1, 2017. NAMI South Bay is required to follow the new membership structure. The new membership rates are as follows:

– Household $60. For multiple people at one address.
– Individual $40.
– Open Door $5. Open to anyone experiencing financial constraints.

If there are multiple people at your address who wish to join NAMI you have many options.

1. Each person may join as an Individual or Open Door member or
2. One person at the address may join as an Individual or Open Door member or
3. All people at the address may join as part of one Household membership.

NAMI South Bay will no longer support a “Newsletter Only” membership category because it is not supported by NAMI national. “Newsletter Only” members whose memberships expired July 1, 2017 can rejoin using one of supported membership categories. Those whose memberships expire after July 1, will have their memberships converted to one of the supported categories.

If you are not a member or wish to renew your membership in NAMI South Bay, please See membership renewal form or go to www.nami.org.

NAMI South Bay collaborates with the South Bay Coalition to End Homeless. This coalition has been instrumental in the annual Homeless Count and helping the Coordinated Entry System Network in the South Bay. The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) released the first set of 2019 Homeless Count and is the organization developing the plans and programs to address homelessness. It is estimated 30% of the homeless are persons with a mental illness.

Overall homelessness rose by 12% in the County of Los Angeles. While there were a few counties reporting a slight decrease, in general homelessness rose throughout the state. Other Southern California counties homelessness rate changed by:

• Orange County: +50% (4,792 to 6,860)
• San Bernardino County: +23% (2,118 to 2,607)
• Riverside County: +22% (2,310 to 2,811)
• San Diego County: -6% (8,576 to 8,102)
• Imperial County: -5% (1,493 to 1,413)
• Ventura County: +28% (1,299 to 1,669)
• Santa Barbara County: -3% (1,860 to 1,803)

Within the LA Continuum of Care, these sub-populations changed:

• Seniors (ages 62 and older): +8.2% (4,827 to 5,225)
• Family members with minor aged children: +6.4% (8,267 to 8,799)
• Youth (ages 24 and under): +24% (3,164 to 3,926)
• Living in tents and makeshift shelter: +17% (9,475 to 11,086)
• Living in vehicles: +5% (15,749 to 16,528)

Additional information is posted on the Los Angeles Housing Service Authority LAHSA Website.
.
The South Bay Coalition will be discussing these results in more depth at our June 26th general meeting, being held at Inglewood’s Gladys Waddingham Lecture Hall, 101 W. Manchester, adjacent to Inglewood Main Library.