Tell us about your internship! [Cara]

Half of my time with the County of San Luis Obispo has been spent in areas of affordable housing, homeless services, public services and public facilities. I've gotten to meet with amazing non-profits throughout the Central Coast like 5Cities Homeless Coalition, People's Self Help Housing, and CAPSLO, who work to build and maintain affordable housing units and help to prevent and end homelessness in the County. Most often, the housing team at the County works with non-profits and Cities to apply for the Federal grants to fund these important projects and to monitor them throughout the project process. Taking the grant-writing class, RPTA 450 was helpful in becoming familiar with various grant resources and the grant process that non-profits and Cities often rely on as a major funding source.

The other half of the job entails researching for the housing plans and policies, like the Housing Element of the General Plan. Planning policies created by the housing team like the Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) ordinance and Agricultural Worker ordinance currently in the works can hopefully help to create opportunities for housing people at all income levels. For my professional project, I am working with the Long-Range Planning Department and many different groups in SLO County to write an ordinance allowing tiny houses on wheels as ADUs. Working in a government entity, it's often a trial and error process that can be frustrating from the bureaucratic nonsense that comes from being handed generations worth of policies and procedures. But It's exciting to be able to break down barriers long hindering many to being able to afford a home of their own.