The OC Board of Supervisors approved a name change for the Commission to End Homelessness at its regular board meeting on Feb. 25.
The Commission to End Homelessness, now renamed the Commission to Address Homelessness, is a committee dedicated to collaborating with county and city governments to counter homelessness in Orange County. Its services include providing shelters during extreme weather and programs such as the Point in Time (PIT) Count and Survey, which collects data to measure progress in tackling homelessness.
In a press release from the OC government, a 2024 PIT survey showed that a total of 7,332 people experienced homelessness, including 4,173 who were unsheltered.
Orange County resident Thomas Fielder raised concerns about the name change.
“I’m opposed to changing the name of this Commission to End Homelessness. I don’t want the county to ‘address’ homelessness. I don’t want to say hi to it. I want it to end,” Fielder said during the meeting. “We’ve already lost too many of our neighbors, friends and relatives to this deadly condition.”
Fielder also mentioned the potential impacts of President Donald Trump’s federal funding policies on Orange County’s fight against homelessness.
According to the LA Times, during a meeting of the O.C. Commission to End Homelessness on Feb. 19, policy experts warned that federal support for local efforts might decrease.
Although a court ruling temporarily blocked the administration’s plan to freeze federal funds, it remains uncertain how much funding will be withheld. A $34.5 million HUD package has been designated for Orange County, but budget cuts and policy shifts could affect its release.
Additionally, an executive order targeting “gender ideology extremism” may eliminate the Equal Access Rule, which ensures shelters are accessible to people of different gender identities.
Back in Irvine, Director of Care Coordination Douglas Becht explained the purpose behind the name change.
“I think there’s two things to be stated here when it comes to the name change,” Becht said. “First, people have often taken the name change literally, and have voiced their concerns to the commission and provided a lot of focus and energy on the particular name. The other thing I want to mention is that the commission and its ad hoc were very intentional. If you look in the mission, they have not walked away from the goal to ending homelessness.”
OC Supervisor and Chair of the Commission to Address Homelessness Vicente Sarmiento also responded to Fielder’s comment.
Sarmiento suggested that part of the reason for the name change is to reduce the size of the commission so that every member has time to provide opinions and insight during meetings.
“I think what the ad hoc was trying to do was to make sure that the commission is not simply a place where people go and talk about homelessness but actually move things there,” Sarmiento said.
Vice Chair Katrina Foley suggested to Sarmiento that an annual report be incorporated into the commission’s duties to “showcase the good work that’s going on,” to which Sarmiento agreed.
Foley motioned to approve the name change, seconded by Chair Doug Chaffe and Sarmiento.
On Chi Antony He is a News Intern for the winter 2025 quarter. He can be reached onchi@uci.edu.
Edited by Jaheem Conley.
