She and her husband, Lenton, live in a 20-foot trailer at the Coliseum Stadium parking lot in Oakland. Ramona Choyce recounts the moment when an April fire killed one person at a homeless encampment on Wood Street in Oakland. Oakland which has more than 5,000 homeless people currently has 598 year-round, city-funded shelter beds, 313 community cabin and temporary structure shelter spaces, 147 RV safe parking. He said his latest order could be rescinded if the city fails to provide enough shelter beds or fails to make outreach workers available to help displaced residents find alterative shelter. $400 rent for the low income housing they made. Local News | He dissolved the TRO immediately, conditioned on the city's representations that there would be sufficient shelter options for the displaced residents. (Beth LaBerge/KQED) Caltrans can begin evicting the estimated 200 people who live under an 880 overpass in West Oakland after Labor Day, a federal district judge ruled Friday. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group), OAKLAND, CA - SEPTEMBER 26: Community members move a motorcycle to a trailer at the Wood Street homeless encampment on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022, in Oakland, Calif. Caltrans is overseeing the cleanup of its property along Wood Street. The city may now post notices of the closure and shall give individuals at the encampment at least seven days notice before the closure begins, Orrick wrote. the city has scheduled sweeps of the site, cleared the parts of the encampment on its property. He allowed Caltrans to continue removing debris from the area, as long as it didnt involve residents belongings. A separate request earlier this month to halt Oakland workers from clearing parts of the encampment on land it owns was denied. The Encampment Management Team tracks all known encampments and prioritizes interventions based on health, safety, and size issues. 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. Information, if available, concerning the impacts of programs funded bv the Vacant Property Tax (2018 Measure W1 and 2020 Measure Q homelessness funds subject to Commission oversight this Ordinance on the occurrence of homelessness and illegal dumping outcomes in the City; Recommendations to the Mayor and the City Council on the Biennial Fiscal Year Budget, in accordance with the City Councils Consolidated Fiscal Policy at the time, that ensures that the Commission Chair communicates homelessness priorities to the Mayor and Council: and. Since the restraining order was issued, another 12 fires have broken out on the site, Orrick said at the hearing. Forcing Californians into mental health treatment would get easier with proposed legislation Raised eyebrows. Gavin Newsoms office publicly excoriated Oakland officials for failing to cooperate and threatened to withhold state funds. Last year Caltrans cleared a much larger camp between 200 and 300 people on a neighboring lot owned by the transit agency. Determine findings that will prompt EMT intervention; Provide guidance on addressing unreasonable health and safety risks, promoting voluntary compliance, and strategies to address non-compliance. There were more than 40 people living there on Dec. 22, when Oakland gave notice that it intended to evict all persons on Jan. 9 to clear the site for the development of low-income housing. Heres where California reservoir levels stand after this weeks rains. In an earlier statement, Caltrans said it planned to clear the camp to address the increasingly serious safety risks to life, property and infrastructure at the encampment. The agency said it was coordinating with the city and the county to offer residents shelter. The encampment is. To reduce homelessness, we must slow its growth and keep more people in their homes. It ended badly, Hit bean company Rancho Gordo embroiled in discrimination lawsuit. Caltrans has completed much smaller sweeps in the past. Homeless Action Center Oakland, CA3 weeks agoBe among the first 25 applicantsSee who Homeless Action Center has hired for this roleNo longer accepting applications. Official Website for the City of Oakland | Mayor Sheng Thao. Stuffed animals are seen on a couch at the Wood Street encampment on Friday, April 29, 2022 in Oakland, California. Ruined vegetation, broken irrigation lines and damaged fencing at Lake Merritt, as well as. Oakland residents told a polling firm in 2023 that homelessness, such as at the Wood Street encampment, is their top concern for the city to address in its coming budget. He currently plays for his neighbors outside his shelter, where a piano, guitar and drums are set up. Where can we fit that? Those are things that are beyond what can be ordered in this case, he said. A hand-painted sign can be seen at a homeless encampment on Wood Street in Oakland. She said some weeks she only had 25 open shelter beds out of nearly 600 in the system. City and state leaders say a deadly fire that occurred in April at the site, killing one and displacing five, makes action there all the more urgent. 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Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area. In May, city officials put the total number of residents in the encampment at 300 people. Tucked away from the street, the encampment, commonly known as Wood Street, stretches along property owned by Caltrans, the city of Oakland, BNSF Railway and private owners. 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. Housing | OAKLAND -- About 80 unhoused residents and their property were being cleared from Caltrans property along Wood Street in Oakland on Thursday following a federal judge's ruling that the state. Reporting an Issue If you or someone you know is hungry, homeless, or housing insecure - Call 2-1-1. 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. Its unclear whether residents will be open to moving to a city-sanctioned site. Diesel is expensive. Resident Ron McGowan, who lives at the site in question, said there are about 80 people there. Talya Husbands-Hankin, a homeless advocate who witnessed the incident, said the city was out in extreme force, resulting in more trauma for the unhoused residents.. OAKLAND -- The biggest homeless encampment in Oakland will soon be shut down. What Happens Next Officers from your local police precinct will respond within 4 hours. That site reportedly contained a communal area used to organize donations and cook group meals several nights a week as well as "pop-up clinics, regular open mics, and other community town hall events.". We are in a catch-22., Sarah Ravani (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. 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. by Natalie Orenstein March 25, 2021. Photos: State clears Wood Street homeless camp,, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Bay Area weather: After thunderstorms and hail, snow could be on the way this weekend, Photos: State clears Wood Street homeless camp, Oaklands largest, Housing proposal for unhoused leaves Santa Clara residents sharply divided, Forcing Californians into mental health treatment would get easier with proposed legislation, Grappling with homelessness, California weighs extending foster care for 5 years, After nearly two-month delay, judge allows Oakland to remove large homeless camp. 1,000 people on a section of the former Oakland Army Base. The homelessness crisis also has taken a toll on Oaklands public parks, according to the audit. Earlier this month, another federal judge allowed that work to continue. Without a "constitutional right to housing," Orrick said he had no authority to allow the encampment to remain on the property. 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. When the City decides to close an encampment, the Team makes every effort to relocate encampment dwellers to emergency shelters or community cabins. Forcing Californians into mental health treatment would get easier with proposed legislation In May, city officials told The Chronicle that they dont have enough shelter beds to offer to everyone at Wood Street. City leaders have been struggling with how to deal with the massive encampment, which has exploded in size over the past seven years. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group), OAKLAND, CA - SEPTEMBER 26: An officer with the California Highway Patrol watches as a vehicle is towed 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. The pandemic caused the city to halt most encampment closures, but now city staff say closures are on the table as long as shelter space is available. Residents of the encampment said they know that Caltrans has long wanted to clear them out and plan to resist if the sweep happens. The Oakland city auditor in April released a report that highlighted a litany of problems that plague the city's estimated 140 homeless communities, including: 1,599 interventions for "hygiene . Hall of Justice. Staff Attorneys will primarily . People are seen in a homeless encampment on Thursday, March 19, 2020, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot) SAN FRANCISCO (CN) A temporary restraining order put in place last month to protect the unhoused residents of an encampment the city of Oakland had hoped to clear to make way for new affordable housing has been dissolved. after a two-alarm fire broke out Monday at the site, decried the lack of access to clean water. The land was mostly owned by Caltrans and after a history of fires on the site and concerns about the proximity of a nearby oxygen production plant on July 15, 2022 the agency gave residents five-days' notice to clear the site. Oakland Workers continued Monday to clear the massive homeless encampment along Wood Street in West Oakland. Encampment Management is necessary to address the emergency needs of our unhoused residents, and serves as one part of the Citys overall response to prevent, stabilize and house our community. People living in vehicles represent 35% of Oakland's overall homeless population. Plaintiffs' lawyers did not respond to an inquiry as to whether they would seek to appeal or otherwise challenge the determination. The encampment is on property owned by the city, railroads and various government agencies, including Caltrans, which owns the property directly under the freeway. In a lawsuit filed this week, grassroots group Neighbors. Velena Jones reports. Caltrans says it's closing Oakland's Wood Street homeless encampment because of safety concerns. Walters: Is ending Californias homelessness just a matter of money? Although the first phase includes offers of temporary shelter, Orrick said subsequent phases could continue whether or not shelter was available. 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.. Its uncertain if Caltrans has the authority to clear land it doesnt own. Oakland shut down a portion of its largest homeless encampment, starting the daunting work of clearing a massive, sprawling camp that has been plagued by fires as the city prepares to. The city's lawyers had no comment on the ruling. Multiple fires have erupted at the city's largest homeless encampment, which. City workers do a sweep at the homeless encampment under Interstate 580 in West Oakland as the city promise to deliver porter potties, fences, regular trash pickup, and counseling . Tuesday at 3:07 PM. The order is the latest in a long-running dispute over a homeless camp, who expressed concern about the short notice and lack of shelter options, Activist Judy Heumann led a reimagining of what it means to be disabled, How this year's Selma Bridge Crossing could mark a community renaissance, Storms across the U.S. cause deaths and power outages, Russia's foreign minister gets laughed at over Ukraine remarks at a global conference. This chart is updated at the end of each month. Stay in touch. 550 North Flower Street. ", previously halted Caltrans plans to clear the camp. The Oakland City Council has . Jones and several other residents want the city and state to give them the land to build their own community, equipped with a kitchen and common area to play music. The plaintiffs have raised serious questions that the state will violate their constitutional rights, Orrick wrote in his July order, by placing them in increased danger when it removes them at short notice from the encampment without adequate plans to provide shelter.. The encampment is one of the largest in the city and has been plagued with problems such as illegal dumping and fires for years. 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.