SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco officials are firing back at homeless advocates who claim the city is violating a preliminary injunction that prevents workers from clearing encampments until it has thousands more shelter beds. 

The Coalition on Homelessness and other plaintiffs first sued the city last fall, alleging that San Francisco sweeps encampments to drive out homeless people. It argued that forcing people to move without guaranteeing appropriate shelter violates their constitutional rights. 

Federal Judge Donna Ryu ruled in the nonprofit’s favor in December 2022, blocking the city from clearing homeless encampments. The San Francisco coalition also claimed that city workers are violating its own bag and tag policy of safekeeping belongings it seizes for up to 90 days.

This week city attorney David Chiu filed a brief to clear the record. 

“After a thorough examination, the City found that Plaintiffs’ claims were riddled with falsehoods and irrelevant information that cannot legally support the relief they are seeking,” said Chiu in a press release. 

Chiu told KPIX 5 the city has gone to great lengths to comply with the injunction, and that doing so has hampered the city’s ability to make progress. 

“Here are the facts. San Francisco spends hundreds of millions of dollars every year addressing the plight of homelessness on our streets by paying for affordable housing, for shelter beds, and comprehensive services. We have workers that are reaching out to thousands of unhoused individuals every single year, and this order has made it much more difficult to address the homelessness crisis on our streets,” he said. “It frankly puts San Francisco in an impossible situation.” 

Mayor London Breed on Saturday tweeted that the injunction should be overturned while the city fights the lawsuit in court. 

“Thank you @DavidChiu and your team for continuing to fight this lawsuit. Cities can’t operate this way. San Francisco leads with offers of shelter, but when people refuse to accept these offers, they shouldn’t be allowed to remain on the street,” she tweeted. 

Thank you @DavidChiu and your team for continuing to fight this lawsuit. Cities can’t operate this way. San Francisco leads with offers of shelter, but when people refuse to accept these offers, they shouldn’t be allowed to remain on the street. https://t.co/UTczQiYSzN

— London Breed (@LondonBreed) July 8, 2023

She added that since 2021, outreach teams have engaged with more than 11,000 people on the street. Less than half, nearly 4500, accepted a placement off the street. 

In the last five years, the city has increased the amount of shelter and housing for the homeless by 50%. 

“One of the issues in this lawsuit is what constitutes whether someone is ‘involuntarily homeless.’ We don’t think that if a person refuses shelter or a person has alternative shelter that that should prevent us from being able to address the situation on our streets,” said Chiu. 

The Coalition on Homelessness said city workers are often not offering the appropriate support services and shelter beds. 

“I think the overall point is that the city is going into encampments forcing people to move without having shelter or housing or any other kind of offers of beds to folks, under the threat of criminalization and illegally confiscating people’s property,” said executive director Jennifer Friedenbach. “The overall sentiment of the laws in places are really about…it’s cruel and unusual punishment to criminalize someone when they have no other choice but to be on the streets.” 

Chiu said since the order went into place a half a year ago, homeless advocates have not been able to show a single instance of the city arresting anyone under any of the relevant laws.

Further, he said the Healthy Streets and Operations Center (HSOC) has conducted 233 operations during this time period and placed 957 formerly unhoused persons into shelters, hotels, and other forms of housing. In many instances, Chiu said homeless advocates are unwilling to admit that unhoused people regularly refuse the city’s offers of shelter. 

“For example, one plaintiff has been offered shelter multiple times, including an offer to live in an individual ‘tiny home’ cabin, which is typically considered a preferable shelter placement. But the plaintiff said he would have to check with his lawyers and then eventually refused the shelter space,” he said in a press release. 

Chiu said city workers often encounter dangerous and disturbing situations where law enforcement is needed at encampment operations. 

“We have an incredible crisis of homelessness on our streets, and it is continuing to create significant public health issues, public safety issues for residents in San Francisco, and it’s made it very difficult for us to get help to the people who need help,” said Chiu. 

Regarding the city’s bag and tag policy, he said city workers encounter items “co-mingled or littered with needles, human waste or other health risks,” which presents health and safety risks. In these cases, workers are allowed to throw away the entire pile of belongings. 

“This mayor is doing what other mayors across the country and other mayors in San Francisco have done, and that is shifting blame from their own shoulders onto the backs of homeless people whose backs frankly are already sore from sleeping on the sidewalk,” said Friedenbach. “She’s the mayor of a relatively affluent city, and I would like to see her prioritize investments in solutions we know work.” 

The city is still waiting for a decision on its appeal. 

More from CBS News

Betty Yu

Betty Yu joined KPIX 5 in November 2013 as a general assignment reporter. She spent two years at WTVJ, the NBC-owned station in Miami, as a reporter before moving to San Francisco.

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Unprotected homelessness is a public health disaster. In King County and Seattle, homeless people are dying every day, it’s getting worse and preventable. Providing adequate housing or shelter for all homeless people is an essential step in turning.

However, after decades of regional dialogue and failed plans, the gap between adequate housing and the thousands of homeless people in King County is still widening. The King County Regional Homelessness Authority estimates we will need 18,000 additional temporary shelters or shelters by 2027.

Meanwhile, the city of Seattle has become obsessed with “removing” tent and vehicle camps, better known as “sweeps” — more than 900 of which took place in 2022 — even when shelters aren’t available.

Seattle’s Services not Sweeps coalition has launched a campaign to ban sweeping during winter and extreme weather conditions, when outdoor survival is most difficult. Similar to the Seattle winter eviction ban that was enacted prior to the COVID-19 crisis in 2020, this policy would extend eviction protections to homeless people.

As the University of Washington School of Public Health, which has taught, researched, and developed policies on homelessness, we fully support a winter sweeping ban. We also advocate a year-round sweeping ban, at least until Seattle has enough dignified and suitable indoor space for all vulnerable people. Until then, a ban in winter and extreme weather conditions is a health-promoting first step.

Searches do little more than shift visible reminders of homelessness from one neighborhood to another and then shift them back again. However, raids also push people deeper into the shadows, farther from the regions they are familiar with, cutting ties with care providers and road workers. Searches risk losing IDs, paperwork, medication, and social connections. Imagine trying to get out of homelessness, facing constant challenges like this one, and on top of that, the constant threat of losing your flimsy tent, bed covers, or car and everything you own.

Even worse: kill sweeps. A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) examined 23 cities, including Seattle, and found that continuous “involuntary displacement” significantly increases hospitalizations and deaths. That’s the last thing Seattle needs. The number of homeless deaths in King County has already doubled that of Washington state. In 2022, they increased even further, and in 2023, so far, they are even higher than in the same period last year.

As public health professionals, we are not the only ones demanding services and accommodation, not cleaning services. The American Public Health Association’s Caucus on Homelessness has spoken out against the forced dismantling of homeless camps without readily available shelters or suitable shelters. The editorial of the JAMA study summarized involuntary displacement as “a worsening of a bad situation”. The lead author of the JAMA study bluntly stated: “Sweeping people is not a solution to #homelessness, it is a form of (costly) state-sponsored violence.”

The King County Board of Health declared in 2018 that homelessness is a public health crisis and poses an imminent threat to the health and survival of vulnerable people. The board urged all King County jurisdictions to quickly provide enough emergency shelters to support all homeless people who are homeless.

In addition, federal jurisprudence has repeatedly required that adequate shelters be in place before removing tents or belongings of those not sheltered. This was confirmed by Ninth Circuit Court judgments against Boise and Grants Pass, and by a December federal court order in San Francisco. Also this week, a King County Superior Court judge ruled that Seattle’s camp clearance policy is unconstitutional in cases where the city uses its overly broad definition of “disability” to mandate the removal and destruction of property without Justify advance notice or accommodation offer – where there is no real disability or imminent danger.

Seattle and King County are nowhere near, and nowhere near, those goals. The Regional Housing Authority’s most recent five-year plan, for example, does not provide a specific timeline to meet current or projected housing needs. Still, Seattle continues its frightening pace of destocking.

You may be wondering: what about all those homeless people who are “denying” housing? hmm First, most Seattle searches are conducted without notice or offers of housing. Second, the City of Seattle’s own statistics confirm that most campers accept offers when it comes to “enhanced” and “non-shared” accommodations, such as tiny house villages or motel accommodations.

Although a mat on the floor of a “shelter” meets the courts’ minimum expectations, it is not enough to help people make the transition from homelessness. Simple “communal” housing offers minimal sanitation and weather protection—usually along with barriers to entry (e.g., exclusion of mates and animal companions), overcrowded sleeping quarters, no privacy, limited possessions, and morning evictions onto the streets. These attitudes are neither healthy nor dignified. Not surprisingly, campers in Seattle often opt out of such accommodations.

To help people stabilize and find proper housing, housing is best when it has 24-hour access and privacy, is open to whole family units and partners, including animal companions, and has connections to case management , health and social services. This is the type of shelter prioritized by both the regional homelessness agency and the health department.

Homelessness stems from unaffordable housing, unlivable minimum wages, disabilities, the impoverishment of medical debt, institutional racism, and other economic system failures. Sustainable solutions require transformative strategies, costly investments and time.

Fortunately, we live in a city with some of the wealthiest people in world history who, if taxed, are able to support solutions. We also have many vacant units that could be made available for residential use.

In the meantime, however, we should at least stop sweeping camps during the coldest and hottest months, when displacement is doing the most damage.

Bill Daniell is a physician, epidemiologist, and associate professor emeritus at the UW School of Public Health. He was a member of the King County Board of Health for seven years.

Amy Hagopian is a professor at the UW School of Public Health, where she taught the school’s homelessness course. She is the elected Chair of the Editorial Board of the American Journal of Public Health.

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Although the decision was not legally binding on HSH, it clearly expressed the Board’s view that the website should not be shut down. The resolution said the closure was a “travesty.”

Site F is located on dockland near Pier 94 and includes 114 mobile homes that housed up to 118 homeless people in April. The site was originally set up during the pandemic and was scheduled to remain in place until the health emergency ended. Mayor London Breed declared the state of emergency over on February 28.

HSH initially asked the port for a two-year extension, but the port refused. HSH then negotiated a ten-month agreement, which it said would allow time for the site to be wound up and properly closed.

The agreement was presented to the Ports Commission for “information purposes” at a meeting on April 11. Port officials told commissioners they would bring the matter back for a formal vote on April 25.

After the hearing, questions arose about the meaningfulness of the agreement.

The city’s severe shelter shortage has become even more significant since a federal judge barred the city from evicting tent camps in December 2022 because there are not enough shelter beds to support everyone sleeping on the streets of San Francisco . Testimony in the case showed the city’s bed shortage is over 4,000.

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OAKLAND (KPIX) — A deadly fire at a homeless encampment in West Oakland Tuesday was the last straw for Caltrans, with agency officials saying the camp under Interstate 880 needs to go.

One person was killed and three RVs and two cars were destroyed Tuesday afternoon in the fatal fire that sent a massive plume of black smoke overhead. Five people who lived in the camp were displaced.

A man died in his RV as a fire ripped through his vehicle that was parked at the Wood St. encampment in #Oakland this afternoon. According to OFD, the fire spread from one RV to the one where the deceased person was discovered. In total, five vehicles were destroyed. @KPIXtv pic.twitter.com/fQ3QTjqs6I

— BrianKPIX (@brianyuenKPIX) April 5, 2022

READ MORE: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Tests Positive For COVID; Currently Asymptomatic, Quarantining

KPIX 5 has learned that Caltrans has decided that the massive encampment beneath Interstate 880 must be cleared, and soon.

The agency said the deadly RV fire Tuesday was one of more than 100 fires in recent years. Planning is now underway for a large-scale intervention.

The Wood Street encampment starts just north of the old 16th Street Train Station and stretches almost to the 580 interchange. That’s about three quarters of a mile.

For the hundreds of people living in the camp, the fatal fire might be what leads to their next move.

“You know, I knew a life would be lost sooner or later,” said camp resident Dearlean Bailey. “I told people that was coming.”

Bailey lives about 100 yards from the scene of Tuesday’s fire. It did not come as a surprise to her, nor is she surprised to hear that Caltrans is now talking about taking action.

“There are several different entities down there,” said Caltrans Deputy District Director for External Affairs Cheryl Chambers. “East Bay MUD, Union Pacific, Burlington Northern, City of Oakland, ourselves. So we all
need to get together and talk about what needs to happen in a short timeframe.”

Caltrans told KPIX all of those parties will meet before the week is over to begin discussing some kind of resolution for the encampment. The agency said it will involve moving everyone out.

READ MORE: San Francisco Bay Area Residents Swelter As ‘Mini-Heat Wave’ Sends Temperatures Soaring

“The goal is to clear the area out of a lot of abandoned cars and debris, and to relocate the people to safer conditions, yes,” Chambers explained.

By the agency’s estimate, that could mean relocating more than 100 people.

“It will be a mixed bag,” said Richard, an off-and-on resident of the camp. “Some people are ready for it. Some people are going to say ‘No!’ forever.”

“A lot of people would rather be out here, being free, and I have to pay bills,” Bailey said. “I’d rather pay bills and we broke in a spot myself. yes I would take it.”

“There have been people in that area for years,” Chambers said. “They have a sense of place, and we have been mindful of that. But at the same time, we just need to look at the reality. What happened yesterday needs to be prevented.”

“I feel that we have been very patient here,” said nearby business owner Terry Caughell. “Beyond patient. And I think it’s really time to do something. This fire yesterday was significant.”

Area business owners like Caughell are ready for changes.

“It really is beyond description,” Caughell said. “You know, I’ve had people visit from out of state, vendors. Even after I tell them about what’s going on and give them, if you will, fair warning, when they get here, they still can’t believe what’s going on here. And it’s been going for about 4 to 5 years.”

MORE NEWS: Early Heat Wave, Ongoing Drought Prompts Concerns Of Long Summer Ahead For California’s Power Grid

Caltrans says meetings will be held in the next few days. They’re hoping for some kind of formal strategy in the next couple of weeks.

The post Lethal RV Hearth Prompts Caltrans Plan to Clear West Oakland Encampment – CBS San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

OAKLAND (KPIX) — A deadly fire at a homeless encampment in West Oakland Tuesday was the last straw for Caltrans, with agency officials saying the camp under Interstate 880 needs to go.

One person was killed and three RVs and two cars were destroyed Tuesday afternoon in the fatal fire that sent a massive plume of black smoke overhead. Five people who lived in the camp were displaced.

A man died in his RV as a fire ripped through his vehicle that was parked at the Wood St. encampment in #Oakland this afternoon. According to OFD, the fire spread from one RV to the one where the deceased person was discovered. In total, five vehicles were destroyed. @KPIXtv pic.twitter.com/fQ3QTjqs6I

— BrianKPIX (@brianyuenKPIX) April 5, 2022

READ MORE: Investigation Underway After 58-Year-Old Booked Into Santa Clara County Jail Dies Suddenly

KPIX 5 has learned that Caltrans has decided that the massive encampment beneath Interstate 880 must be cleared, and soon.

The agency said the deadly RV fire Tuesday was one of more than 100 fires in recent years. Planning is now underway for a large-scale intervention.

The Wood Street encampment starts just north of the old 16th Street Train Station and stretches almost to the 580 interchange. That’s about three quarters of a mile.

For the hundreds of people living in the camp, the fatal fire might be what leads to their next move.

“You know, I knew a life would be lost sooner or later,” said camp resident Dearlean Bailey. “I told people that was coming.”

Bailey lives about 100 yards from the scene of Tuesday’s fire. It did not come as a surprise to her, nor is she surprised to hear that Caltrans is now talking about taking action.

“There are several different entities down there,” said Caltrans Deputy District Director for External Affairs Cheryl Chambers. “East Bay MUD, Union Pacific, Burlington Northern, City of Oakland, ourselves. So we all
need to get together and talk about what needs to happen in a short timeframe.”

Caltrans told KPIX all of those parties will meet before the week is over to begin discussing some kind of resolution for the encampment. The agency said it will involve moving everyone out.

READ MORE: Animal Rights Activist Glues Hand To Table During Legislative Hearing At California State Capitol

“The goal is to clear the area out of a lot of abandoned cars and debris, and to relocate the people to safer conditions, yes,” Chambers explained.

By the agency’s estimate, that could mean relocating more than 100 people.

“It will be a mixed bag,” said Richard, an off-and-on resident of the camp. “Some people are ready for it. Some people are going to say ‘No!’ forever.”

“A lot of people would rather be out here, being free, and I have to pay bills,” Bailey said. “I’d rather pay bills and we broke in a spot myself. yes I would take it.”

“There have been people in that area for years,” Chambers said. “They have a sense of place, and we have been mindful of that. But at the same time, we just need to look at the reality. What happened yesterday needs to be prevented.”

“I feel that we have been very patient here,” said nearby business owner Terry Caughell. “Beyond patient. And I think it’s really time to do something. This fire yesterday was significant.”

Area business owners like Caughell are ready for changes.

“It really is beyond description,” Caughell said. “You know, I’ve had people visit from out of state, vendors. Even after I tell them about what’s going on and give them, if you will, fair warning, when they get here, they still can’t believe what’s going on here. And it’s been going for about 4 to 5 years.”

MORE NEWS: ‘Ahead Of Schedule’ – Cal Fire Staffs Up, Suspends Burn Permits In Santa Cruz Mountains As Fire Season Starts Early

Caltrans says meetings will be held in the next few days. They’re hoping for some kind of formal strategy in the next couple of weeks.

The post Lethal RV Hearth Prompts Caltrans Plan to Clear West Oakland Encampment – CBS San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Feb 23, 2022

The San Francisco Fire Department responded to a fire at a homeless encampment early Feb. 23, 2022.

SFFD

One person died and three more people were injured during a fire at a San Francisco homeless encampment inside a freeway onramp early Wednesday morning, officials said.

The San Francisco Fire Department responded to the incident just after midnight at the Bosworth onramp on Interstate 280.

The department posted images on Twitter showing firefighters climbing into square holes in the underside of the overpass.

KTVU reported that the people were trapped inside the onramp’s “crawl space.”

Firefighters rescued four people from flames and performed life-saving measures. The department said three people are in critical condition and were transported to the hospital. One person died, officials said.

UPDATE— 4TH ADULT RESCUED PARAMEDICS PERFORMING LIFE SAVING TASKS—CRITICAL CONDITION—AVOID AREA https://t.co/fVmUzUUky1 pic.twitter.com/P4VOE1ODJP

— SAN FRANCISCO FIRE DEPARTMENT MEDIA (@SFFDPIO) February 23, 2022

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

The incident occurred during a spell of unusually cold weather with overnight temperatures in San Francisco dropping into the 40s in recent days. Downtown SF hit 42 degrees at 3 am Wednesday, the National Weather Service said.

San Francisco’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing is opening pop-up shelters during the cold snap for people without housing.

Amy Graff is the news editor for SFGATE. She was born and raised in the Bay Area and got her start in news at the Daily Californian newspaper at UC Berkeley where she majored in English literature. She has been with SFGATE for more than 10 years. You can email her at agraff@sfgate.com.

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In the days leading up to Rosh Hashanah that year, the president of the Sha’ar Zahav congregation in the Mission Dolores neighborhood of San Francisco discovered that a homeless camp had been set up in the synagogue. People slept in tents on either side of the building. The entrances and exits had become inaccessible.

Before the pandemic, it was not uncommon to see people sleeping in tents just steps from Sha’ar Zahav, the city’s historically gay and lesbian synagogue just two blocks from Dolores Park. During 2020, as more tents appeared around the synagogue, the synagogue staff brought meals to the unprotected people. They swept the sidewalk around the tents, handing out garbage bags, and then collecting the filled bags.

In 2021, however, this cooperative relationship between the synagogue and the unprotected dissolved, according to Marc Lipschutz, the synagogue’s president.

“Our campers in 2021 were not responsive, didn’t pack their rubbish, didn’t move their rubbish. They urinated on our building regularly, ”said Lipschutz.

Maintenance staff who came to collect rubbish three times a week are increasingly faced with a “monumental task,” said Lipschutz. He instructed them not to touch the hypodermic needles that they would find on the floor.

“Not all of our homeless neighbors were drug addicts. But some of them were quite safe, “said Lipschutz,” and were often under the influence and sometimes belligerent. “

In August, as the synagogue was preparing to hold face-to-face services and resume religious school, Lipschutz began contacting public officials: a member of the SF Board of Directors, the mayor’s office, the San Francisco Police Department, and the San Francisco Emergency Management Department .

“I felt that I had to balance the dignity of people who don’t have a home and the security of my community,” he said.

“I also want to stress that I didn’t want our neighbors to be removed without being offered housing and related services. I asked for assurances that their properties will not be confiscated because I believe this has happened in the past. and [I requested] that they will not be forcibly relocated, but with compassion. “

Over a period of two weeks prior to Rosh Hashanah on September 6th and 8th, emergency management teams, along with officers from the SFPD mission station, visited the camp to see what residential programs or accommodations the people in the tents would want to go to, Sam said Dodge, who had just arrived as the new director of the inter-agency Healthy Streets Operation Center in San Francisco.

We love our location and everything that is associated with it. This is part of the challenge.

Concentrated relocation efforts took place over Labor Day weekend, May 4-6. September, when the half-dozen people who lived in the small camp moved with their belongings in their possession to the city-approved safe sleeping villages and navigation centers. These are upgraded accommodations with more privacy and on-site services, Dodge said.

“That worked out well. We took our time, ”said Dodge. He said no one was arrested or their property was confiscated. The goals outlined by Lipschutz were achieved.

Lipschutz takes responsibility for clearing the tents and admits that he was rejected by several synagogue members who believed unsecured people were allowed to camp on the sidewalk because of inadequate affordable housing. Out of concern for public safety, he acted anyway.

“For someone who says, ‘Marc, you were wrong,’ I have to say, ‘I’m sorry. It pains me a lot. ‘ And in a way, maybe I was wrong. But I felt that I had to balance the needs of the communities, including my community of Sha’ar Zahav. “

More than two months since their removal, the people and their tents have not returned, said Lipschutz.

Rabbi Mychal Copeland in front of Sha’ar Zahav Congregation. (Photo / Norm Levin)

Sha’ar Zahav’s Rabbi Mychal Copeland said homeless people nestling near places of worship are a problem and she is meeting with nearby church spirits to find out “how we can best make positive changes in our city for our uninhabited neighbors can cause. ”

She said she supported Lipschutz in his actions to remove the camp in the synagogue.

“We love our location,” said Copeland, “and everything that comes with it. This is part of the challenge. “

On any given day, up to 5,000 people could live in San Francisco without protection, Dodge estimates. And the total number of people without permanent housing is more than 8,000 across the city, according to the last count as of 2019, although the number has undoubtedly increased higher during the pandemic. The census planned for 2021 has been postponed due to the pandemic. The next official homeless census in the city will be in January, the San Francisco Public Press reported. These data provide vital funding for the city’s homeless assistance.

These services are particularly urgent in the South of Market area, where Rabbi Yosef Langer of Chabad of SF (on Natoma Street on 6th Street, near a liquor store and single room hotel) meets someone at the front of the synagogue sleeps entry almost every day. He brings coffee and prepackaged meals to the people sleeping on the outside walls of the synagogue and greets them as they pass. On his way he notices human and dog feces.

Rabbi Yosef Langer of Chabad of San Francisco on patrol in SoMa. (Photo / Max A. Cherney)

“This is her home,” said Langer. “Many of them grew up on Sixth Street.”

However, if the entrance to the center is blocked by a sleeping person, he will tell them to move and, if necessary, call 311, the city’s emergency number. He says it usually takes three days to get a response, and if a person is removed, “within a night or so, they’re back”.

He has a relationship with the Hospitality House, an animal shelter just around the corner from the synagogue entrance, and tries to connect some homeless people to the organization’s rehabilitation resources.

“It goes so far beyond a religious thing,” Langer said. “If you don’t grab it, you’ll end up in a garbage can. If you don’t take the other one, it will fall on you. “

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SAN JOSE (KPIX) – The crews began the final cleanup on Thursday at one of the Bay Area’s most famous homeless camps in South Bay.

The warehouse is located on 55 acres of vacant land in North San Jose owned by Apple.

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Green flyers were posted informing camp residents that the site would begin closing at 7 a.m. on September 2. The flyers warned that any remaining materials would be removed. Valuables would be stored for 90 days, the rest will be transported to the landfill.

Crews worked much of the day, using bulldozers to scrape the debris into large trash cans and throw up noxious clouds of dust that reeked of human waste and raw sewage.

On August 13, Apple announced a partnership with HomeFirst and said the company would give the nonprofit “several million dollars” to clean up the website and provide shelter for the more than 60 people in the camp.

The residents were offered three types of interim accommodation: a motel room, an emergency bed or a secure parking space. Apple would cover the costs for the case for nine months and the case management for twelve months.

HomeFirst CEO Andrea Urton described Apple’s offer as “generous” and referred to recent major donations from local technology giants. Google and Facebook have donated $ 1 billion, and Apple has pledged $ 2.5 billion to build affordable housing and fund homeless initiatives.

“I don’t think American companies are doing enough. I think there are good people in America. I meet a lot of them every day. And yet I think companies could lean more to be part of the solution. And that means providing resources, financial resources, be it land, whether it’s working with developers to build affordable housing for their employees. Whatever it is, they have to be part of the solution with the city and county, ”said Urton.

She pointed out that funding from the private sector is needed as local government agencies are under budgeted.

CONTINUE READING: Drought Emergency: Arid conditions sending wildlife to the East Bay neighborhoods

“The city and the district are currently doing everything they can, and have been doing so for two years. They are underserved and tired, just like all of us. So if big corporations step in and provide the resources that nonprofits need to be part of the solution, together we can actually end homelessness effectively, ”said Urton.

HomeFirst response teams had offered accommodation to Robert Carlson, who has been on site for several months. But with several large vehicles including an RV, Carlson declined the housing and chose to go solo.

“It’s part of life, isn’t it? Trials and trials, man, ”Carlson said. “Well, we were all one big family here. We were a big family. I already miss everyone. “

Deborah Kempkoble, who has also lived on the premises for several months, accepted the offer for a motel room on the Monterey Highway and said her story “may have a happy ending”.

“You will help me get teeth. Because I don’t have any, do you understand? They will help me get teeth, ”said Kempkoble. “It’s easier to find a job when you have teeth.”

The new construction of a 2.70 meter high black metal fence now surrounds part of the property, which is guarded by a sizeable contingent of Apple’s private security guards.

Regarding Thursday’s cleanup, Apple referred to an earlier statement posted in August:

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“Apple has long been focused on tackling the housing crisis across California and working with partners to support communities at risk and provide new affordable units. As the challenges for tenants and potential homeowners continue to increase, we have accelerated our support and have already allocated over $ 1 billion to new projects since early 2020. In San Jose we have been working closely with local partners for several months to identify alternative housing options and to support families who will leave the Component Drive location. We are contracting with HomeFirst – a leading local provider of services, accommodation and accommodation – to provide resources directly to ensure that those currently on that location have access to a range of accommodation, Have resources for casework and other support services. “

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SAN RAFAEL (KPIX) – Authorities began clearing a North Bay homeless camp located under a San Rafael freeway overpass late Monday morning.

Both Caltrans and city officials said they had no choice but to force those living there without shelter to flee.

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The entire eviction process will take hours. Crews arrived late morning to begin cleaning up the tents and huts under the US Highway 101 flyover at the intersection of Fourth and Heatherton near downtown San Rafael.

People who lived in tents and cars had assembled an entire neighborhood made up mostly of looted objects. They called the dismantling of the camp a major systematic failure.

“This place was a good place of healing and peace for the people,” said camp resident Christian Gift.

After the Caltrans crews started hauling items and clearing the warehouse, the people who lived here said the workers could destroy their homes, but it wouldn’t destroy their mood.

CONTINUE READING: UPDATE: San Francisco police arrested suspects on June 10th Muni Stebbing

In all of California, housing is only available for about 30% of the homeless.

“It is devastating when your community is torn apart; what you built, what you could bring together and merge, and then the state comes and tears it to pieces, ”said Robbie Powelson of the Marin County Homeless Union.

San Rafael officials say local and state leaders have worked hard for the past five years to end chronic homelessness by providing services and support. This particular camp on state property under Highway 101 has grown significantly since the pandemic began. The city says it just got too big.

“The reason there are so many people under the viaduct is because when people go to San Rafael and try to pitch a tent, the SRPD snatched their tents from people,” explained Powelson.

Caltrans says police and fire calls in the area of ​​the camp have doubled, including calls for violent crime and theft.

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Caltrans told KPIX that it had worked with the city and county to help unoccupied residents move into permanent housing or housing.

The post Caltrans Crews Clear Out Homeless Encampment Below San Rafael Hwy 101 Overpass – CBS San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) – A sprawling homeless camp in the shadow of Mineta San Jose International Airport has caught the attention of Federal Aviation Administration officials who have asked city officials to clean it up.

Some call it “The Crash Zone” and it has grown dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic. The camp now spans nearly a mile and is littered with discarded debris and makeshift living quarters.

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“Every single tree out here has RVs, cars, tents,” said Scott Largent, a homeless man who gave KPIX a tour of the grounds. “I would say there are almost 600 people out here.”

The population is around 200 recently, according to Neil Rufino, Assistant Director of Parks, Recreation, & Neighborhood Services.

However, from informal conversations with San Jose police officers patrolling the area, business owners have been told that the population in the area roughly bordered by Coleman Avenue, Hedding Street and the Guadalupe River is 400 to 500.

San Jose Homeless Camp KPIX 5

In comparison, the notorious “jungle” on Story and Senter Road housed around 250 residents. In 2014 it was considered the largest homeless camp in the country at the time. Its dismantling made international headlines.

With no long-term housing for the jungle residents, the homeless poured into the surrounding neighborhoods and shops in the hours and days that followed the closure.

“I would call this Jungle 2.0 out here,” Largent said

The city of San Jose put all homeless camps on hold in the early days of the pandemic, as per CDC guidelines. In the months that followed, the population of the so-called Spring Street area boomed.

During a recent tour, almost all of the trees and shrubs were used as shade for temporary housing. A loose network of dirt roads meanders through mountains of rubbish, burned out mobile homes, a cemetery of discarded equipment, paved residential buildings. The smell of garbage and smoke was in the air.

Largent made a note of staying in the middle of busy common areas so as not to worry long-time residents. Largent, who lives in an RV, said the hundreds of people in the camp have the full range of social and mental services they need.

“There are a lot of people who just need help,” said Largent, adding that he doesn’t feel safe in the area.

With the warehouse located under an airport runway, its growing size has caught the FAA’s attention. With air traffic recovering from the pandemic, commercial aircraft and private jets glide overhead every few minutes.

The FAA has sent two letters asking the city of San Jose to come up with a plan to deport the homeless by June 30th.

“Please provide the FAA with a revised plan that will result in the city taking an immediate more active role in the relocation of the homeless,” the FAA wrote on May 17. just to ensure that the use of airport properties does not solve the crisis. “

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First, the FAA set a June 30 deadline to respond with a plan to remove the bearings. But SJC has requested an extension to July 31, according to the airport’s Public Information Manager, Keonnis Taylor.

According to local activist Shaunn Cartwright, homeless attorneys became aware of the FAA’s letters on Monday, June 21. By Wednesday June 23, leaflets were posted in the camp warning of the impending cleanup, asking to leave by June 28 or to be charged with trespassing and prosecution.

Also on June 23, a clean-up team made up of more than a dozen workers arrived at the camps with a dump truck.

“Everything [the FAA letter] puts pressure on the city to get rid of everyone, ”said Cartwright. “And it seems like the city is complying. The residents say there is nowhere to go. “

Camp resident Kelly Goodman repeated these feelings.

“We’re human too,” Goodman told KPIX 5. “We’re just asking for a little help. That’s all. That’s it.”

Cartwright questioned the city’s efforts given its timing and proximity to the public release of the FAA letter. On top of that, the FAA letters are likely to lead city officials to rush and evacuate the camps without a clear, long-term plan for housing residents.

“We know the sweeps are coming. All it does is pressure the city to get rid of everyone. And it seems like the city is complying, ”said Cartwright.

Rufino, who oversees the ongoing cleanup in the camps, said there would be no cleanup for at least several weeks and that the crews had tried to notify residents only of a cleanup, not a cleanup, this week. Rufino said the highly worded leaflets were required by law, but he acknowledged the panic and fear they caused.

“I think we can definitely look at the language of this flyer,” said Rufino.

As for the city’s approach to the Spring Street area, Rufino said she was compassionate. The city will provide mobile toilets and garbage disposal throughout the pandemic.

“How can we coexist in the city? We are a big city and we will have constant worries and challenges with the homeless. We don’t have enough affordable or low-income housing to accommodate everyone. And we know that it is not a sustainable safe place for them. So we had to figure out how to make this space manageable. If people live in this room now, can we keep it clean enough? ”Said Rufino.

In response to a KPIX 5 query on Friday evening, Taylor said the airport’s plans for a gate or fence around the property were “still under development.”

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Regarding the dismantling of the homeless camp, “The plans are still under development and have not been finalized at this point,” said Taylor.

The post FAA Raises Issues Over Sprawling Homeless Encampment Close to San Jose Airport – CBS San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.