Related Articles OAKLAND, CA - SEPTEMBER 26: Workers remove numerous items from the Wood Street homeless encampment on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022, in Oakland, Calif. Caltrans is overseeing the cleanup of its property along Wood Street. Residents of the encampment said they know that Caltrans has long wanted to clear them out and plan to resist if the sweep happens. City officials have been . We do need permanent supportive housing and where is it? Caltrans says it's closing Oakland's Wood Street homeless encampment because of safety concerns. After nearly two-month delay, judge allows Oakland to remove large homeless camp That case was assigned to Judge Orrick, who expressed concern about the short notice and lack of shelter options. I stretched the point up until now in order to try to get to some sort of a place that recognizes the humanity of the people who've been talking to me.. Encampment Response Map - City of Tacoma A separate request earlier this month to halt Oakland workers from clearing parts of the encampment on land it owns was denied. Meter made: Simple device offers affordable access to water at Oakland To report an issue related to an encampment, please email Homelessness@oaklandca.gov. Caltrans plans to clear 200 homeless people from the sprawling site by the first week of August, officials said. She previously covered startups and venture capital for the Bay Area News Group and prior to that court cases for The Recorder in San Francisco. Local News | OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 5: Maria Fuentes, who is a coordinator at the Community of Grace homeless encampment, shows their community garden across from the Home Depot on the 4000 block of . Oakland mayor appoints former Compton city manager as Interim City Administrator . The Citys suggestion that it has no responsibility for homeless individuals on state property unless there is a specific earmark is simply unacceptable, Patterson wrote. Velena Jones reports. Caltrans crews wait to clear the Wood Street encampment in Oakland on Sept. 8, 2022, while residents and advocates block the road. Over the next several weeks, the Caltrans site was cleaned and cleared and the residents moved to other locations and situations. Multiple fires have erupted at the citys largest homeless encampment, which extends for several city blocks and has been home to hundreds of people. A resident of the 1707 Wood site and a local advocate then brought suit against Oakland in federal court asking that the city be enjoined. The City Council has to approve the plans and construction is likely to take longer than other sites because a set of railroad tracks cuts through the property. And where do we go? In the six weeks following the TRO, the city advanced the RV park and cabin community projects to a point where it represented to the judge that it would be able to "hold" enough spots to accommodate all the 1707 Wood Street residents who wanted to be sheltered. The Administration is grateful that the City Council unanimously approved a comprehensive, citywide Encampment Management Policy last October, and are now beginning to identify the necessary resources to support this important work with an understanding that even more is necessary, Reiskin wrote in an emailed statement. Homeless advocates said residents were offered alternative shelter spaces. Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. The man, who was not identified, was taken into custody. There are another 40 spaces available in pre-existing tiny home, safe parking and other sites throughout the city and there likely will be dozens of beds free at St. Vincent de Paul, a dorm-style shelter in West Oakland, according to the city. Aric Crabb has been a staff photographer at the Bay Area News Group since 1998. The city has demonstrated it now has enough shelter beds for everyone who will be displaced by the camps closure, U.S. District Judge William Orrick ruled. Despite the problems, Wood Street residents say they look out for each other and have formed a self-sufficient community, building homes using wood panels and doors among the abandoned railroad tracks. . When the City decides to close an encampment, the Team makes every effort to relocate encampment dwellers to emergency shelters or community cabins. A burned-out van amid charred rubble of where Ramon Choyce once lived at a homeless encampment on Wood Street in Oakland. Mayor Libby Schaaf, city administrator Ed Reiskin, police Chief LeRonne Armstrong and Daniel Cooper, the citys newly appointed homelessness administrator, were at Wood Street on Wednesday. That injunction was dissolved in phases, beginning in August of 2022, giving residents more time to find other alternatives. A spokesperson for the Oakland Police Department said the department is investigating a use-of-force incident on Thursday just after 2:45 p.m. in the area of West Grand Avenue and Wood Street. Homelessness has doubled in the last 10 years. The judge noted that while the U.S. constitution does not require the government to protect people from harm caused by third persons, there is an exception when the state "affirmatively places [a plaintiff] in danger by acting with deliberate indifference to a known or obvious danger.". Oakland Unveils 100-Person Tiny-Home Village at Troubled Wood Street But a solution might be on the horizon. Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. Hope and Disappointment for the Homeless in Oakland Resident Ron McGowan, who lives at the site in question, said there are about 80 people there. OAKLAND, Calif. ( KRON) Caltrans announced in a press release Friday that it will shut down the homeless encampment on Wood Street. California snowpack hits highest level this century for March, could I-80 closed across Donner Summit as snowstorm pummels Sierra, San Francisco citizens once traveled by gondola. A hand-painted sign can be seen at a homeless encampment on Wood Street in Oakland. Report the issue to our encampment management team at homelessness@oaklandca.gov. Ramona Choyce recounts the moment when an April fire killed one person at a homeless encampment on Wood Street in Oakland. As he drove past the intersection of 21st and E streets in Northwest Washington, a 68-year-old man peered through the window, struck by an encampment of homeless people here that grew from 10 . Local News | To report an encampment online, please scan the QR code below to access the Reporting Tool page: Or go to the Reporting Tool website: https://reportencampments.tucsonaz.gov/ To report an encampment by phone, please call the City of Tucson Resource Line: (520) 791-2540 Initiation of Protocol Homeless Encampment - Issue #13733349 - Civic Center, Oakland, CA Designate high-sensitivity areas, where unmanaged encampments are presumed to cause unreasonably high levels of health and safety impacts due to the nature of the location; Designate low-sensitivity areas, where enforcement will not be prioritized. Copyright 2023 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Earlier this month, Gov. While the city did open a RV safe parking site for 40 vehicles at Wood Street last summer, its struggled to house more residents. Credit: Darwin BondGraham. We are in a catch-22., Sarah Ravani (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Over the years, advocates have thwarted city attempts to close the encampment, demanding that the city offer residents adequate shelter or to leave them be. A U.N. report from 2018 called the conditions there cruel and inhumane. The expert behind the report compared it to the poorest places in the world, decried the lack of access to clean water and toilets, and said the rodent infestations, fire dangers and other hazards should be quickly addressed. It is . Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. Here's where Oakland wants to build new homeless housing Echo Park Lake homeless encampment mulls decision to leave - Los The transportation agency said in a release they will begin shutting down the entire encampment in phases beginning July 20 and will work with city officials and the county to place people in alternate shelter. Narcan spray and other sanitary products can be seen on a book shelf at a homeless encampment on Wood Street in Oakland, Calif. on Monday, May 2, 2022. In May, city officials put the total number of residents in the encampment at 300 people. One dead, five displaced in West Oakland encampment blaze - East Bay Times Residents, Activists Decry Evictions at Oakland's Largest Homeless 211 West Temple Street. Residents say the camp is a place where they can live how they want after losing stable homes because of evictions or job losses. The order is the latest in a long-running dispute over a homeless camp that once covered 40 acres under the Nimitz Freeway in Oakland, where between 200 and 300 people lived in vehicles, RVs, tents and other makeshift structures. The commission also must follow an extensive legal process before being permitted to levy the $6,000 daily fine on Oakland, noted journalist Jaime Omar Yassin . Unhoused people in Oakland built an eco-oasis during the pandemic Walters: Is ending Californias homelessness just a matter of money? The streets of Oakland are already full of unhoused persons, many of whom were previously evicted from their encampments.". When you are dealing with homeless individuals or a homeless encampment, these types of crimes include: Trespassing Public intoxication Public urination You report that you've witnessed a crime to the police or sheriff. Caltrans crews remove a vehicle from the Wood Street encampment in West Oakland on July 19, 2022. hese are vehicles of human beings," he said at the hearing, "and they are not to be lost. In October of 2020, the Oakland City Council adopted an Encampment Management Policy to focus encampment actions on mitigating negative outcomes as they pertain to public safety, public health, and equity outcomes. Ideally, the auditors office wrote, those calls should have been responded to in 10 to 15 minutes. Jones and several residents presented their idea of a self-governed site to city staff and Fife at a meeting last summer. The conditions at the encampment which has mountains of trash and burned-out vehicles were called cruel and inhumane in a U.N. report from 2018. The final 2019-2021 budget allocates $32 million to address homelessness by: expanding health, sanitation, safety services for unsheltered residents funding self-governed encampments and temporary housing options such as tiny homes, shipping containers, and mobile homes. We got three buses. He said, "This TRO is not a long-term prohibition on Oakland's actions but rather a stopgap to prevent violation of constitutional rights that are likely to result from the combination of the state-of-emergency weather situation and the failure to provide alternative shelter.". Three days later, a group of encampment residents sued Caltrans, the governor, Oakland and a number of public officials in federal court, alleging that their forced removal from the site would constitute an unconstitutional "state created danger" and place them at a high degree of risk because there were not adequate shelter options for them in Oakland. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! Oakland has responded to the crisis level surge in homelessness with emergency measures like community cabins. City Administrator Ed Reiskin said city employees have worked hard to compassionately manage the surge in encampments, while acknowledging they havent always had clear policy direction or sufficient resources. Caltrans said it would shut down the entire encampment, clearing out about 200 people who live there. "These are vehicles of human beings," he said at the hearing, "and they are not to be lost.". And Orrick agreed. If you or someone you know is hungry, homeless, or housing insecure - Call 2-1-1. In May, city officials told The Chronicle that they dont have enough shelter beds to offer to everyone at Wood Street. Gavin Newsoms administration awarded Oakland a $4.7. In July the city began clearing an area between West Grand and 26th Street in Oakland in preparation for a shelter at the site, which would house approximately 50 people. A surprise sweep of a newly formed homeless encampment on state property has forced some unhoused West Oakland residents to move - yet again. She started her journalism career reporting on crime and breaking news for The News-Press in Southwest Florida. Multiple. Several non-emergency systems including phone lines within the City of Oakland are currently impacted or offline. Members of the cleanup crew rolled tires and lifted couches overhead as larger equipment moved car after car, some just burned-out shells, off the state-owned lot. Both the city and the camps residents have different ideas for what the future should be for the land and the people who live there. When the city has scheduled sweeps of the site, residents and homeless advocates have blocked workers from entering and removing belongings. City of Oakland Opens 100-bed Cabin Shelter Program at Wood Street, Estelle Clemons, Interim Director of Human Services and, Daniel Cooper, Homelessness Administrator, Court order would allow phased clean-up and closure operation to resume to abate potentially hazardous conditions that threaten public health and safety, Completed Encampment Management Operations, FACT SHEET: Wood Street Update - October 2022, FACT SHEET: Wood Street Encampment - July 2022, HOJA INFORMATIVA: Intervenciones para la gestin del campamento de Wood Street, FACT SHEET: East 12th Street Median Encampment - October 2022, Completed Encampment Management Team Operations Since 2021, Joint Statement regarding Homeless Services Performance Audit, Federal Judge Indicates Approval of City of Oaklands Thoughtful Outreach and Services Plan in Support of Caltrans Encampment Closure Operation on Wood Street. A large fire broke out at the encampment on Monday,. Brigitte Nicoletti, an attorney assisting residents in their pro se lawsuit, reiterated that request at the hearing on Friday. He issued a temporary injunction on July 19, 2022. Its absurd to think that we've gotten this far through this process and we have not had anybody take a survey of who is actually affected by this, McGowan said at the hearing. Theo Cedar Jones, a resident at Wood Street for nearly two years who lives in a makeshift shelter, said he doesnt like the citys community cabin model and wouldnt use it. And it was clear at the hearing that the city, county and Caltrans still had not worked out a plan for a number of different issues related to the encampment's closure, including who would do the outreach to residents and where residents' belongings would be kept. Newly formed Oakland homeless encampment on Caltrans property cleared View the map in a new window. Housing | The news of the clearing comes after a two-alarm fire broke out Monday at the site, which dozens of blazes have torn through over the past year. The Oakland City Council unanimously passed a new homeless encampment policy Tuesday, more than 10 hours into a meeting where dozens of members of the public spoke passionately about the proposal and protesters rallied outside two councilmembers' homes. While the city was working to open a safe parking area for RVs that would accommodate 29 vehicles and a "cabin community" with 31 beds, neither site was yet ready for occupancy. The Oakland police department, the Oakland city councilmember responsible for the area, and the mayor's office official running specific policy towards homeless encampments did not respond to a . Oakland fire at homeless encampment extinguished - KRON4 Over the past seven years, Oaklands Wood Street encampment has exploded in size. Our housed and unhoused residents are counting on us to make this right, Ruby wrote. The number of people sleeping on Oaklands streets jumped from 1,902 in 2017 to 3,210 in 2019, according to the most recent point-in-time counts. The Commission shall publish an annual report regarding how and to what extent the City Council and Mayor have implemented this Chapter. Last year, 19 murders 18% of the citys total for the year occurred in encampments, according to the report. people had to eat at charity style centers, and a sunday 'picnic in the park' feed. But Orrick said requiring Caltrans to provide those resources was beyond the scope of the law. they paid around $400 a month in public assistance and charged. She has provided coverage on wildfires, mass shootings, the fatal shooting of police officers and massive floods in the North Bay. Oakland Unveils 100-Person Tiny-Home Village at Troubled Wood Street Encampment What was once northern California's largest homeless encampment at Wood Street in Oakland now has a. Marisa Kendall is a housing reporter for the Bay Area News Group who covers homelessness for The Mercury News and East Bay Times. Since the policy has gone into effect, two Oakland nonprofits have burned as a result of fires started in areas where the city knew there to be encampments. In July, a large fire damaged a portion of Interstate 880. A day later, tensions escalated when witnesses said Oakland police tased an encampment resident. But the money is insufficient to help all the camps residents. Raised eyebrows. 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