San Luis Obispo County’s representative in the California State Senate paid a visit to the future site of the Welcome Home Village transitional housing project on Thursday.

District 17 State Sen. John Laird and top county officials including Supervisors Bruce Gibson and Dawn Ortiz-Legg met Thursday afternoon to discuss the housing project and the county’s efforts to tackle homelessness.

Laird said he supports projects like the Welcome Home Village — located in the Bishop Medical Center parking lot at the corner of Johnson Avenue and Bishop Street — because they provide a direct response to the problem of homeless encampments such as the ones the new project will target along the Bob Jones Trail.

Having attended the opening of many of the county’s homelessness response projects in recent years, Laird said he’s proud to see the county continuing to dedicate time and resources to the issue.

“I had an exchange with the governor last week with our caucus where I really tried to impress on him that locals are stepping up,” Laird said. “This project shows locals are stepping up.”

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