Santa Cruz County supervisors pushed forward with a plan to allow quick demolition of abandoned vehicles after they’ve been towed. County officials say it will help with enforcing parking laws and encouraging those living in vehicles to receive help, but the plan has drawn criticism from homeless advocates who say it targets a vulnerable population.
homelessness
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Pajaro River levee cleanup scatters an unhoused community, creating new challenges for outreach workers
In the weeks following a massive encampment cleanup along the Pajaro River levee, unhoused residents have moved upstream, which has created challenges for the homelessness outreach team tasked with helping some levee residents find shelter.
Posted inWatsonville / Pajaro
Watsonville City Council approves city’s first homelessness strategic plan
The Watsonville City Council voted to adopt the city’s first homelessness strategic plan at its meeting Tuesday night. The plan outlines the city’s approach to reducing homelessness and connecting unhoused residents to social services.
Posted inHousing & Development
‘A covenant of hope’: Watsonville’s tiny village homeless housing on track for December opening
On Friday, local officials got their first look at the 34-unit tiny village in Watsonville, which will house up to 36 homeless residents from the Pajaro River levee. The project, a collaboration between Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, is nearly complete and on track to open toward the end of the year.
Posted inHealth & Wellness
A key Santa Cruz mental health service closed amid funding turmoil and months of missed paychecks
After winning county funding this summer, Santa Cruz’s Mental Health Client Action Network abruptly closed, leaving unpaid staff in crisis as leaders cite financial turmoil, leadership struggles and stalled reimbursements.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
In the Public Interest: Questions swirl around abrupt closures of two key homeless services
Inside Santa Cruz County politics & policy with Lookout correspondent Christopher Neely.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Santa Cruz County homeless services dealt double blow as MHCAN, Downtown Streets Team abruptly shutter
Santa Cruz’s homeless services network faces new uncertainty as the Mental Health Client Advocacy Network abruptly closed “until further notice” and Downtown Streets Team announced plans to shut down statewide this fall.
Posted inLatest News
As Pajaro levee sweep begins, homeless workers face the painful task of displacing their own
As crews began to clear the Pajaro River levee encampment on Monday, some of the workers are homeless themselves — and struggle to reconcile their need for paid work with being on the other side of sweeps in the past.
Posted inLatest News
‘People are overwhelmed’: Pajaro River levee residents face Monday deadline to leave, with no sure place to go
Along the Pajaro River levee, where chickens roost in makeshift homes and cats roam freely, outreach workers are rushing to help residents and their pets find somewhere to go ahead of flood control repairs set to begin next week.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Santa Cruz County plan to demolish abandoned, oversized vehicles stalls amid homeless concerns
Santa Cruz County’s effort to clear abandoned cars and RVs stalled Tuesday after backlash to a proposal letting tow companies immediately dismantle vehicles, raising concerns about displacing homeless residents relying on them.
