by Leslie Layton & Natalie Hanson
posted Nov. 20
The nonprofit organization Safe Space is working to get emergency night-time sheltering available by Christmas Day as unhoused people struggle with this week’s downpour.
Forecasts were indicating that up to 10 inches of rain were possible in Chico between today and the end of the week, as well as localized flooding. Safe Space Executive Director Hilary Crosby said outreach teams were on the streets handing out tarps and making sure homeless community members “knew about the storm coming through.”
“I don’t have anything [at this point] to provide people so they can get warm or dry off,” Crosby said early today. “We’re checking on people to make sure they have what they need.”
Safe Space wants to open an office at 1909 Esplanade but faces hurdles. The office would be used for intake during the winter, with people gathering in the parking lot for about two and a half hours each evening. After volunteers check in unhoused people, they would be shuttled to one of five participating churches for the night. Crosby said there would likely be between 35 to 50 homeless people seeking shelter, and a half dozen volunteers.
The City, however, indicated earlier that Safe Space needs a land use permit that requires several months to process and costs some $14,000.
Safe Space balked at both the time it would take to get the permit and the cost, noting that it had worked for 18 months reviewing more than 20 potential locations. “It’s crucial that we move forward quickly to open this shelter for the upcoming winter season,” Crosby said. “This building has a parking lot off the street. It has a wheelchair ramp. It’s really conducive to intake for the season.”
By the end of this week, Crosby said she plans to present a “rock-solid argument” that the building Safe Space wants is, in fact, an office — not something that requires the expensive land-use permit. “Every person who has looked at the coding and zoning has said this qualifies as an office,” Crosby said, noting that she has been working with local and state leadership.
The City, she said, is just very “gun shy.”
ChicoSol last month contacted City Manager Mark Sorensen to ask whether the permit could be expedited, but Sorensen said no application had been received.
“There is no permit application to expedite,” Sorensen said in an email. “The Council cannot prejudge a potential future land use decision, as that would be grounds to challenge a future land use decision.”
Crosby said the City “keeps trying to put us in the same category as the Jesus Center or Catalyst” that house people. “We’re not doing any of that.”
During a Chico winter, night-time temperatures often drop to the mid-30s and sometimes lower. Safe Space has struggled in the past to find a location that’s acceptable for intake and approved by the City. Crosby said the nonprofit needs a permanent office, but needs to “baby step” its way to that solution.
Meanwhile, Safe Space said it’s looking for volunteers to help with the winter program and urges interested community members to sign up on its website.
Where to go in a storm
The availability of beds in congregate shelters can vary with weather patterns. Today, for example, there were only five available beds in the Jesus Center’s men’s dorm and there were none in the women’s dorm. There were 19 open beds at the Torres Shelter and 15 pallet shelters available at the village called Genesis.
But some homeless people are ineligible for those shelter options or unwilling to comply with the rules that are imposed. District 4 City Councilmember Addison Winslow released a statement in October, arguing that in practical terms, shelter availability isn’t as “abundant” as the City suggests.
“The Torres Shelter is a congregate shelter with triple bunks and a curfew of 6pm,” Winslow wrote, noting that some unhoused people may not feel comfortable with or able and willing to accept that environment. Winslow said the pallet shelters are “highly desirable,” but getting the required referral is difficult. He added that the “units are almost never rejected by people camping outside.”
Winslow said the phone line used by people interested in pallet shelter housing produces “hundreds of unanswered calls.” The Settlement Agreement produced by the Warren v. Chico lawsuit requires that 5 to 10 callers a day from the “Shelter Interest List” be contacted. The number depends on whether the City is in the midst of evictions from public spaces.
Amber Abney-Bass, executive director of the Jesus Center that runs the pallet shelter village, said her Outreach & Engagement team receives, logs and returns the calls from people inquiring about Genesis. The team had “cleared” nearly 1,700 calls at the time of her fall statement to ChicoSol.
“The most challenging part of this process has been that the phone numbers provided are very frequently disconnected, phone numbers may now belong to somebody other than the original caller, or voicemails are never returned,” Abney-Bass said. “I would also like to point out that these are calls logged and do not represent the number of callers. For instance, when somebody has a location change or a new phone number, they often call back to update their previous contact.”
Abney-Bass acknowledged that the Jesus Center’s Renewal Center facilities have been “functionally full” since opening in September 2023, with typically only 1-2 open beds.
“I just want to assure our community that the availability of units at the [pallet] shelter is based on typical challenges that shelter providers face,” Abney-Bass said. “It is a simple reflection of the number of intakes and departures occurring at the site.”
Leslie Layton is editor of ChicoSol. Natalie Hanson is a contributing editor.