Move-out deadline looms for residents of temporary Sebastopol RV site eyed for housing development

The clock is ticking for residents of a temporary RV village in Sebastopol, where people face a March 3 deadline to move out.

Intended as a one-year program to provide a site for people then living in their vehicles on city streets, it was extended to two years, partially through county funding. Now the property is slated to be developed by the St. Vincent de Paul Sonoma County charity into a 22-unit housing complex for people with extremely low incomes.

“Everybody's trying to scramble to be in the position to receive housing if it comes,” said John Henry Hull, who has lived at the site, dubbed Horizon Shine, since it opened in February 2022 on Gravenstein Highway North.

The pending housing project is to be funded by a state grant which hasn’t yet been awarded, and the construction application still has one review stage to go, said Jack Tibbetts, St. Vincent de Paul’s executive director. The hope is to start work in April, he said.

Sonoma Applied Village Services, or SAVS, the nonprofit that operates the RV site — which a group of neighbors unsuccessfully sued to prevent — has added staff to help its 22 residents find replacement living situations. The county’s homelessness services division has also deployed staff members to assist residents.

Much of the work to date — the March 3 deadline was announced at the end of November — has involved helping residents obtain the documents they need for permanent housing and some sort of income, whether from a job or government benefits, said Mistry Lujan, Horizon Shine’s case manager.

“Those are needed to get housed,” Lujan said. “Once we get all that taken care of, then we can start looking for housing.”

Adrian Brumley, SAVS’ executive director, said the move-out deadline prompted many residents to get more serious about using the services available to them.

“They just weren't very motivated to work with their case manager and help themselves,” Brumley said. “But once we gave them this notice, they became very involved. I'm seeing clients left and right crossing things off their list now that they need to get done. So it’s been great progress.”

Hull, 50, is a commercial fisherman who has been recovering from an on-the-job injury he suffered last year. “People have procrastinated,” he said. “Myself included.”

Several residents are making plans to move out of state, while others intend to move with their travel trailers to family or friends’ property, Brumley said. For people who prove they have a place to go to, SAVS is paying for their travel expenses, to register and insure their vehicles, and for any necessary repairs.

“We're doing that with contingencies of, ‘We need to know that you're going to a permanent spot or a spot that’s not the streets,’” Brumley said.

Horizon Shine cost about $1.6 million to operate for two years, with funding from Sebastopol, Sonoma County, and the federal and state governments, he said.

SAVS is also working with other nonprofits — including St. Vincent de Paul and SHARE Sonoma County — to locate permanent housing options with supportive services such as mental health counseling and case management. One challenge, Brumley said, is that residents are reluctant to part with the vehicles they now call home.

“They know their past. They know their struggles. They know their barriers. So they're all a little scared,” he said. “’What if I do get put in a house and I mess it up, and then I'll have nothing left because I gave up my trailer to be here, so I'll have nowhere to go. I'll be back on the streets with nothing over my head.’ So that's a huge barrier.”

As he watches residents go about their business, Brumley said the outcome will be a “diverse situation.”

“Being realistic with what I know and what I'm seeing, it’s going to be some going into transitional housing, some that go to somewhere similar to where they're at now, a safe parking site. And there's going to be some that I hope get permanent housing. And then there may be one or two that refuse to give up their trailer and, and just head back out on the street.“

As for Hull, he said he’s secured a housing voucher and his documents, and is connected with Sonoma County Job Link, an employment and job training center. He has also been talking to friends who might be able to host him and the school bus he lives in if he doesn’t find a better spot before March 3.

“I feel like, you know, if I'm positive and I do what I need to do to be in the right position, then I'll get what I'm after. So I'm trying to be positive that way. But it is stressful,” he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Jeremy Hay at 707-387-2960 or jeremy.hay@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @jeremyhay