When you think of economic development, you probably think of local government begging for capital’s attention, offering kickbacks and perks to big businesses in exchange for investment.

That’s not the kind of economic development Jeff Davis does. As the head of the city’s UPLIFT program, he’s focused on building the economy from the base — its citizenry. 

The other day Davis spoke with the Outpost’s John Kennedy O’Connor about UPLIFT Eureka and the various services it provides. Video above, transcript below.

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JOHN KENNEDY O’CONNOR:

Well, welcome to another Humboldt Conversation. I’m here today with Jeff Davis, who’s the project manager for economic development with City of Eureka. Jeff, welcome to Humboldt Conversation. Thank you so much for joining us. Uplift Eureka is a program within the Eureka City Community Access Project. What are the goals of this program?

JEFF DAVIS:

Yeah, so the goals for Uplift Eureka are to provide access to quality of life programming to connect community members that are experiencing homelessness with vital services and resources within the community.

O’CONNOR:

Now, there are a number of different programs … tell us first about the job skills training program.

DAVIS:

The job skills training program, it’s a wonderful opportunity for folks to who are interested in unemployment opportunities to get some hands-on training some some work experience uh… and really just uh… it’s a huge confidence booster and it really a resume booster as well.

O’CONNOR:

Well, now we actually talked to Sierra Wood, one of your colleagues, about the Pathway to Payday program that you just completed. That’s been a big success for you guys.

DAVIS:

It’s been a tremendous success. Yeah, we’ve been doing this program since … I think it’s 2015. We started off doing the Pathway to Payday one time per year. And this is based on the demand and the success. Now we do this just about every other month.

O’CONNOR:

Housing assistance is another key part of the program.

DAVIS:

Yeah, so we do operate a rapid rehousing program, and that’s really based on grant funding and funding opportunities. And so, yeah, it’s a rapid rehousing program where we’re able to search for and secure permanent housing for folks that are experiencing homelessness and then provide them with supportive services and help them stabilize and get on their feet. And we’ve had about over 120 folks since 2019 that we were able to successfully house and do this really rapidly. We are great community partners with Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services. We couldn’t have done that without them. And so it’s really a team effort. It’s not just the city going in. The connections with the county and with some local community-based organizations that are just making all the difference.

O’CONNOR:

Now, we’re actually here in the Betty Kwan Chinn Center, and that’s actually one of your partners as well.

DAVIS:

Yeah, so, Betty has been a tremendous partner with the city of Eureka with a lot of our programming, with some emergency shelters. We collaborate for food drives and food distribution events. And so, yeah, Betty has just been has such a huge impact on this community. And we’ve been working with her every step of the way.

O’CONNOR:

I’ve never seen so much peanut butter in my life. Now, also it’s not just about partnerships, because you also have a co-pilot scheme which I thought was very interesting. Explain that for us.

DAVIS:

Okay. Yeah, so the Co-Pilot Program, it’s a program for community volunteers. So we recruit, train, and vet local community members who are interested in helping those out that are in need. We connect them one-on-one. It’s more of like a helping hand to help folks navigate towards services or resources. It could just be someone that you meet with once a week just to talk and someone that’s there for you. We are going to be re-implementing that program very soon. Hopefully next month. We have an Uplift Eureka website, so if you’re interested in the Co-Pilot Program, definitely go to uplifteureka.com. That’s a great place to find information on all of our different programs.

O’CONNOR:

And the copilot system is a volunteer thing. It’s where you really are reaching out to the community to help.

DAVIS:

Yeah, definitely, it’s an opportunity for folks to give back and and you know help those in need. If you see that there’s a problem out there and and if you want to know what you can do about it the Co-Pilot is one opportunity for community members to give back.

O’CONNOR:

And as you say, they can get involved through the website.

DAVIS:

Yeah, the website and there’s information on all our different programs. You can either submit like a comment through the website or there’s some phone numbers if you’re interested in the different programs. There’s specific numbers for each program.

O’CONNOR:

Jeff, it’s a real pleasure to meet you. Uplift Eureka is a really vital part of our community.

DAVIS:

Yeah, it sure is and we have our outreach team. We conduct street-based outreach. We’re out five days a week. We’re usually down at Free Meal conducting these services. And really the outreach is kind of the tip of the spear. They’re the ones that are out there on the streets every day connecting folks with services, providing transportation, and just really building those relationships. And when housing opportunities or employment opportunities are available, our outreach team has just been amazing with connecting folks with those services and resources. And they work very closely with the county and with other organizations too. So yeah, it’s a great program. It’s been going on since about 2018. And we’re just, we work not just outside of the city but within the city too with our CSET team, with the police department, and our new CARE team. It’s just a great collaboration on so many levels. Alright.

O’CONNOR:

We’re actually going to be talking to Officer La France for a Humboldt Conversation next week. We’re looking forward to that. Well, thank you so much for joining us for a Humboldt Conversation. It’s a very exciting project. I’m really glad we had the opportunity to share it with our viewers and learn more about it.

DAVIS:

Thank you so much for this opportunity to get the word out and let more folks know about what the city is doing.

O’CONNOR:

Wish you all the best for the future. Great, thank you. Thanks so much for joining us for another Homework Conversation. We’ll see you again next time.