OAKLAND — To fight the city’s homeless problem, the mayor proposes spending $185 million over the next two years to address the growing crisis.

Most of that money, $123.6 million, is intended to keep people from losing their homes and to build affordable housing.

Related Articles Homeless ‘war zone’: Oakland officials under fire to solve crisis Half of the $185 million will come from county-funded programs such as $54 million from the affordable housing bond measure A1 approved in November, according to a statement from Mayor Libby Schaaf last week.

Almost half of Oakland’s contribution, $40 million, is from November’s Measure KK infrastructure bond.

With another $19.5 million from the city, the total of city and county money allocated for developing affordable housing is a 12-fold increase from what the city included in its current two-year budget, the mayor said in a statement.

Ten million more of Measure KK funds would go to acquire or build a new navigation center, modeled after the Henry Robinson Hotel on 14th Street, where 80 percent of its formerly homeless residents last year moved on to permanent housing.

That would allow the city to double the number helped to 600.

While that navigation center is in the works, Schaaf proposes providing an outdoor center with support services, at a site yet to be determined.For a $200,000 commitment from the city, she expects Oakland to qualify for another $1.8 million in county and federal funds for that project, Schaaf said.

Figures from this year’s one-day survey of Oakland’s homeless show that the city has 1,902 people living on the streets and 859 more in shelters, a 25 percent increase from the previous survey in 2015.

“It’s upping our game,” said Councilman Dan Kalb.

“For many of us, it’s our top-priority issue and we’re looking to see how much money we can put in. Now we have a list of things from which to choose,” he said.

A proposal the mayor said was inspired by Councilwoman Lynette Gibson McElhaney’s Compassionate Communities pilot program begun late last year would take portable toilets to encampments, along with servicing of those facilities. It dedicates $1.14 million to a work crew assigned to “compassionate” cleanup of encampments and nearby neighborhoods, allowing people to move their possessions before the area is cleared of garbage.

Along with that is $250,000, with the expectation of additional county funds, to provide food, health care, counseling at the camps and help finding housing.

“These are new services we’ve never provided before,” the mayor said in a statement.

“I’m delighted to see the mayor step up her efforts,” McElhaney said.

New among the mayor’s proposals to help keep 4,000 people housed is a $500,000 property inspection program. The inspections would allow residents in their homes to stay while repairs are made.

In addition to conducting the biannual Point in Time survey that is considered the best estimate of the number of homeless, the nonprofit Everyone Home helps coordinate city and county anti-homelessness efforts and oversees the county’s Continuum of Care programs.

Those programs, funded by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, will funnel $17.5 million, or half of the county’s allocation, into Oakland over the next two years, the mayor predicted. The money is earmarked for transitional and permanent supportive housing and rapid rehousing efforts, the organization said.

Two of the 40 programs countywide that get this funding are the Oakland Homeless Youth Housing Collaborative, which will receive $713,095, and the Oakland PATH Re-Housing Initiative, due $474,829.

The county’s Health Care Agency is allocating a $7.5 million grant through MediCal to implement a Whole Person Care pilot program focused on clients who are the biggest users of health care services. It is expected to expand street outreach programs, increase housing navigation services and assist those currently in permanent housing.

The agency already separately provides mental health and substance abuse treatment services.

“Every Oaklander deserves safe, affordable housing. Every resident struggling with disabilities, mental illness or addiction deserves dignity and care,” Schaaf said in her statement.

“Just as the causes of homelessness are complex, the work to tackle it is as well. We need everyone in this community to help. If you want to help, please visit EveryoneHome.org and join a working group, sign up for action alerts or donate to support their services for our unsheltered residents,” she said.

Contact Mark Hedin at 510-293-2452, 408-759-2132 or mhedin@bayareanewsgroup.com.