Dozens seek shelter as Caltrans clears Joe Rodota Trail homeless encampment in Santa Rosa after legal delay

A single pink-wheeled roller skate rested in the middle of the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail transit trail Wednesday as a bevvy of officials watched people gather what belongings they could.

A woman held up a clear phone case and asked, “Is this anybody’s?”

She tossed it into a nearby pile of refuse, remnants of the informal Santa Rosa neighborhood along the Joe Rodota and SMART trails where she and about 70 others had lived.

There was a guitar, a water kettle, a kitchen table with a white tiled topper, an ox-blood leather office chair, a potted fiddle leaf fig sapling and silver space blankets. Not everything could or would be taken.

The day had come for residents to vacate the illegal encampment. Several of the campers had filed a lawsuit in order to prevent the state from making them leave, but a judge lifted it Oct. 27.

They had until 8 a.m. to clear their possessions and vacate the site. Caltrans would clear the spot of anything remaining, and California Highway Patrol was prepared to remove any person who refused to leave.

By that time, rain had abated and people were still getting their things together. Outreach workers had not yet arrived to help people find shelter.

Many people did not know where they were headed. Some planned to head further down the trail and regroup before finding another place to restart the camp.

Michelle Wight said she didn’t want to go to Sam Jones Hall, the city’s largest shelter.

When she lived in Oregon she stayed in a similar place, “it wasn’t a good experience for me at all.” She cited the increased risk of contracting COVID-19 as one concern, along with the lack of safety in large shared rooms.

“I like to have my space. You know what I mean? My place to go. My four walls. Even if it’s tent walls,” she said.

Amber Glenn and her dog, Zookie, made multiple trips to gather their belongings. She has been trying to find shelter for a while but with no luck. Attorney, Alicia Roman, who works with California Rural Legal Assistance, was standing by to observe and let people know their rights when it comes to accessible housing options.

Glenn used Roman’s phone to call Catholic Charities for help at 8:53 a.m. She had nowhere to go.

“It's not that we don't want somewhere to live, because we’re trying to do that. They just come and say things that they think … sounds good, you know, but then there's never any follow up. That's the problem,” she said.

Glenn said people will be offered shelter at Sam Jones Hall but when they go, officials say there’s no bed space available.

Once the six or so Catholic Charities workers arrived they started talking to the encampment residents, trying to place them in shelters, holding clipboards and checking in with people as they pushed their belongings down the path.

There seemed to be no straightforward answer as to whether there were enough beds for anyone who wanted one.

Stephanie Merrida-Grant, assistant director of the homeless outreach, engagement and Sam Jones Hall, stood along the trail Wednesday. She referred questions to Jennielynn Holmes, CEO of Catholic Charities.

Holmes wasn’t on site. She told The Press Democrat later that seven people were placed at Sam Jones Hall and 11 more were referred to “Los Guilicos, Palms Inn, Safe sleep Site and more.”

In total, 38 people were placed in shelter out of the 75 or so that were living in the encampment.

By 9:38 a.m., Mony Preap said a caseworker got him and his dog, Blue, the last bed at Sam Jones Hall. He had never been there before despite living outdoors off and on for three years.

He said he felt blessed to get a bed. “I have nowhere to go. I don't really have family.”

Officials from Catholic Charities; Sonoma County Homeless Encampment Access & Resource Team, or HEART; Sonoma County Regional Parks; and American Integrated Services gathered near the encampment.

Nearly every agency refused to speak with The Press Democrat at the encampment and instead directed questions to their superiors or public relations officers.

Caltrans sent a public relations person to speak with media.

Around 10:30 a.m., American Integrated Services, the contracted debris removal crew started clearing what was left with a rented Takekuchi TL12R2 compact track loader. Items were crushed, scooped and deposited in a growing pile near a cyclone fence.

A large stuffed giraffe was caught beneath the bucket and sucked under the rubber tracks.

Signs posted around the encampment stated that items left after 8 a.m. Nov. 29 would be considered abandoned, removed and held for 60 days. After that time, things would be thrown away.

Glenn said she called the number provided on the sign to ask if she could have some things held ahead of the camp.

“And they said, Oh, no, sorry, we can't do that,” Glenn said.

Cheryl Chambers, a Caltrans public relations worker, said the agency only “store things of value” and does store many items.

“When you're looking at what's here, I don't think that there's anything that is a value to be stored, people took a lot of items out over the past three hours,” she said.

Value, she said, would be determined in the clearing process. A Caltrans worker later chimed that items worth $50 or more would be collected and saved.

The only item saved for storage was a drill.

Everything else was destroyed and cleared, including an upright piano, a hand-stitched leather wallet and numerous pop-up tents.

“When they take this down, it's like taking our homes down,” Preap said. “That's where we stay at.”

Kathryn Styer Martínez is a reporting intern for the Press Democrat. She can be reached at kathryn.styermartinez@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5337.