Santa Rosa Homeless Program Resumes After Wildfires

Santa Rosa is resuming a pilot program, aimed at getting its homeless population off the streets and into permanent housing, that was delayed in the aftermath of October's deadly wildfires.

The city had planned to begin moving people out of an encampment under Highway 101 in downtown Santa Rosa in mid-October, and officials say the encampment has grown from 50 people to more than 70 since the fires hit.

This will be the second homeless encampment the city has worked to clear out this year. This summer, the city says it placed 30 out of 42 people who had been living at an encampment at Farmers Lane and Bennett Valley Road, known as Homeless Hill, into shelters, in addition to clearing 200 tons of debris and trash from the site. The effort is part of a "housing first" model to reducing homelessness that has been adopted by several cities across the United States.

Alsonso Brewer, 58, has been living at the encampment under Highway 101 since before the fire, and he says he’s been on the city’s housing waitlist for years.

“I’m moving nowhere on the list, and I’ve seen other people get moved into these places and they just pass me up all the time,” Brewer said. “They haven’t helped me at all.”

The wildfires have made finding housing for Santa Rosa's homeless population even more difficult.

“On Oct. 7, we already had a significant homeless issue, and then Oct. 8 hit, the wildfires hit, and now we have a whole new group of people who are housing-unstable or who are now experiencing homelessness for the first time,” said Jennielynn Holmes, Catholic Charities Shelter and Housing director. Santa Rosa is partnering with Catholic Charities on the pilot program.

Catholic Charities’ Homeless Outreach Team will begin to engage with residents from the Highway 101 encampment this week, with the goal of placing them in homeless shelters or hotel rooms on a temporary basis by the end of the month. There will also be increased police presence at the encampment to discourage people from moving back after they have been moved into temporary housing.

From there, the city will need to figure out how to locate more permanent housing.

For some at the Highway 101 encampment, the idea of temporary housing is good news, especially with winter rains on the way. Sarah, 41, who did not want to give her last name, says she is open to any kind of housing, but she's concerned about competition for housing with the city’s newly displaced.

“Waiting lists that were historically long, maybe they’re gonna get longer,” Sarah said. “But then again, the city might be cutting red tape to get people taken care of and handled. So maybe it’ll help all of us.”