Tag: homelessness

Safe Space leadership plans to meet with City officials City threat to shut down intake threatens winter sheltering program

by Leslie Layton
posted Jan. 4

Jan. 6 update: Chico City Council held an emergency meeting today after Safe Space was forced to move intake from the downtown building. (Intake today will be held at 5:30 p.m. at 285 East 5th St.) A meeting will be held Tuesday between City and Safe Space managements, and Council members Sean Morgan and Addison Winslow.

Safe Space Executive Director Hilary Crosby was encouraged today by City officials who she said have agreed to meet to discuss the intake center problem that has threatened to shut down Chico’s emergency winter sheltering program. read more

Unhoused people say they’re targeted, misunderstood A BB gun shooting interrupts an autumn morning

photo by Leslie Layton
Campers believe the hole was caused by gunfire aimed at them.

Sidebar to part II in ChicoSol series on homelessness in 2023.

On a Friday morning in September, North State Shelter Team (NSST) volunteers keep the mobile shower unit running during their weekly visit to the alternate site campground. Hope Commons Church has brought coffee and rolls for unhoused campers. Suddenly, a ping ping ping interrupts quiet conversations.

Then, a tide of irritation and indignant anger rolls through the encampment with the realization that there has just been a BB gun shooting aimed at the group from a passing car. No one was hit, but any of us – from the unhoused to the community volunteers to a pair of ChicoSol journalists on assignment – could have been. read more

How City sidelined the “quickest and simplest option” for unhoused people Winslow: "the government owes safety and security to everyone"

photo by Karen Laslo
City staff cleared Depot Park Aug. 31, evicting people from what had become the last large encampment.

by Addison Winslow
guest commentary posted Sept. 3

The Warren v Chico settlement forced Chico into a reckoning with homelessness; such a reckoning that city policy now has the effect of a boulder rolling down a hill. Not once since I was sworn into office last December has the City Council been asked for or given direction on homelessness.

Taking the settlement forced on us by a federal court as the entirety of our City’s policy to address homelessness puts Chico in a rut. Because the court decided that a shelter bed only qualifies as a token for eviction if it is indoors, we have sidelined the quickest and simplest option to improve conditions of people camping in public spaces: managed camping in an environmentally responsible location. The biggest absurdity of this is that, as part of the settlement agreement, we have sanctioned campgrounds (three of them, technically, though all at the same intersection), and regulation is just piecemeal or nonexistent. read more

State sends Chico back to the drawing board – again Revisions underway on City's eight-year housing plan

photo by Karen Laslo
Creekside Place Apartments are opening to senior citizens who need affordable housing.

by Natalie Hanson
posted June 21

Chico city officials say that after nearly a year, the City’s plan for building new housing under state law — the Housing Element — could be approved this summer. But the process is already far behind schedule, as the state just slapped the latest draft with demands for more revisions for the second time in one year.

The City’s Housing Element has been under scrutiny since almost a year ago when it went before the public and City Council in August. A Housing Element, required of each city in California, must cover the eight-year period from 2022 to June 2030 to ensure that the City complies with state legislation, creating a comprehensive strategy to promote safe, decent and affordable housing. It assesses current and projected housing needs, constraints to housing production, and resources. It then establishes housing goals, policies and actions to meet housing needs over the Housing Element planning period. read more

Project Roomkey extended in Butte County Some motel space will be available through March 2022

photo by Karen Laslo
District 2 Supervisor Debra Lucero

by Leslie Layton
posted Dec. 17

The Butte County Board of Supervisors made funding available this past week to extend Project Roomkey – the state program that utilized federal funds to house at-risk homeless people during the pandemic.

In a 5-0 vote, the board on Dec. 14 approved a proposal brought forth by supervisors Debra Lucero and Tami Ritter that allocates $1.5 million from the county’s General Fund for motel rooms for unsheltered senior citizens or individuals with chronic health conditions who need isolation or quarantine during the pandemic. The rooms will be available until the end of March and the occupants will receive services to help them maintain quarantine, such as meal delivery. read more

Chico in turmoil with shrinking City Council Councilor Kami Denlay resigns

photo by Karen Laslo
Councilor Kami Denlay resigned June 27.

by Leslie Layton

This is what a political crisis looks like: Two City Council resignations in seven days. A barely-used emergency shelter for homeless residents that was erected by the city on a remote lot. Social media threads where commenters use terms like “trench warfare” to describe local politics.

The second City Council resignation came June 27 when first-term Councilor Kami Denlay announced she was stepping down — only seven days after her colleague, Scott Huber, had resigned. That leaves two vacancies on the seven-member panel – an unprecedented event, at least in recent decades. read more