Rohnert Park residents urged city to address rising homelessness. City officials say their efforts are working

Suzanne McCormick isn’t sure she’d have made it through the series of storms that have pummeled the North Bay this winter in her tent on Hinebaugh Creek in Rohnert Park.

McCormick didn’t have a sleeping bag and even the sherpa blanket someone gifted her could only offer so much protection on freezing nights.

“This winter has been so cold I honest to God don’t think I would’ve survived,” she said during a recent interview as another winter storm that brought rain, wind and even snow approached.

McCormick, 66, is one of the 70-plus residents who have found temporary shelter at Labath Landing, a 60-unit interim housing site in Rohnert Park that opened in late October.

The $15 million site west of Highway 101 is Rohnert Park’s first effort to house some of its estimated 250 unsheltered residents.

City officials say Labath has provided them with a new tool to address homelessness, particularly a large, sanctioned encampment on Roberts Lake Road that had grown to about 130 people. It has also allowed the city to enforce camping and overnight parking rules more effectively.

For the city’s most vulnerable residents, like McCormick, it has provided a safe place where they can work with case managers to connect with services and find lasting homes.

Homelessness has been a hot issue in Rohnert Park. The council has faced increased pressure from residents and businesses the last few years to take more forceful action to reduce the number of people camping across parts of the city.

City leaders say they listened and acted and their efforts are paying off.

More than a dozen people from Labath and the camp have transitioned into housing over the last five months. The camp population has shrunk, and the city’s goal is to eventually close it, though there is no timeline.

“I’m very proud of what Rohnert Park has done,” Council member Gerard Giudice said. “We’ve had the courage to step up and say we want to try to effect a solution that works for the residents and our businesses and people who are suffering from not having shelter.”

Still, council members acknowledge there is more work to do. While residents responding to the city’s 2023 community survey said they’ve noticed an improvement over the last year, homelessness remains the top concern.

Giudice and council colleagues said it’s going to take a regional approach and more supportive housing to make a bigger impact.

‘Grateful for this place’

Labath Landing welcomed its first residents on Oct. 24, and the facility was fully occupied within two days, said Julian Elliott, director of emergency housing with HomeFirst, the Milpitas-based nonprofit operating the site.

About 50 residents from the Roberts Lake camp relocated to Labath when it opened, and others came from camps along local waterways.

The facility can house up to 74 people. Residents can stay for up to six months while they work with advocates and case managers to access health care and social services, employment and secure permanent housing. People can stay longer if case workers determine it’s necessary to reach their housing goals, Elliott said.

The site is intended to serve about 100 of the most vulnerable annually.

About 90% of residents are considered chronically homeless, Elliott said, meaning they have been continually homeless for a year or more or have repeatedly experienced homelessness and have an underlying health condition or behavioral health issues.

The number of chronically homeless spiked in Sonoma County over the past two years, according to a February 2022 census of the region’s unsheltered population.

About 50% of residents have been homeless for most of their adult life, Elliott said.

Many are younger, in their 30s and 40s, like 35-year-old Sabrina Jones.

Jones was living at the Roberts Lake camp when a member of Unsheltered Friends Outreach, a group that provides meals and other assistance to homeless individuals, told her about Labath.

She applied for a unit and was one of the first to move in. She had experienced homelessness consistently since April 2018 but on and off for much of her adult life, she said.

“I’m really grateful for this place,” she said. “Things are a lot better.”

She’s been working with a case manager to transition to permanent housing so she can reunite with the infant daughter she had while living in the camp.

Elliott said six residents have transitioned to housing and others are working to secure a place.

“It’s very cool to see the progress people are making daily,” he said, adding that he and his team have known some of the residents for years and it’s “heartwarming” to see them move on.

Camp population slashed

Across Highway 101, meanwhile, about 40 people remain at the camp in the park-and-ride lot.

After Labath’s opening, Rohnert Park officials spent the next several weeks reorganizing remaining residents at the camp into a smaller, managed camp on the east side of the lot.

The city set up 10-by-10 foot spaces and provided everyone with a tent and cot on a raised platform as part of a so-called “safe sleeping program.”

Sixty-eight people enrolled in the managed camp, and the population has steadily decreased since. No new residents are being accepted.

Of the 28 people who have left the camp in the last five months:

• Five people moved into Labath Landing.
• Three found permanent housing.
• Three enrolled in long-term substance treatment programs or medical care facility.
• Two were kicked out for violence or threatening violence, which violated camp rules.
• Fifteen chose to leave.

Rohnert Park Housing Manager Jenna Garcia said while the number of people who have chosen to leave on their own is relatively high, it’s likely they weren’t interested in participating in a managed program.

Those who remain at the camp are invested in engaging with services and finding housing. The majority are experiencing chronic homelessness, she said.

The camp, established in February 2022, grew to about 130 residents before Labath opened and was believed to be the largest in Sonoma County.

Garcia said the reorganization has helped the city better manage the population there and address concerns with safety and trash in the area.

The city contracts with a security firm to provide 24-hour presence, and Rohnert Park police regularly patrol the area.

HomeFirst provides social services at the site, and the city provides portable bathrooms and trash removal.

Updated city camping ordinances have provided more teeth in limiting the size of camps and what items are permitted to address trash buildup, safety concerns and mitigate fire risks. Residents also must adhere to quiet hours and other rules.

Emergency service calls around Roberts Lake Road and Rogers Plaza across the street have decreased since the managed camp was established.

Calls declined by about 55% from 192 in September before the reorganization to 86 in December, according to city data.

Rich Henderson, a commercial property manager who manages the three buildings behind Rogers Plaza, said his tenants have noticed the improvement.

There has been a decrease in vandalism and trash, the number of complaints he receives from tenants has declined, and so too have out-of-pocket expenses for safety and trash, he said.

“We were cautiously optimistic … but we’ve been pleasantly surprised,” he said. “The best laid plans don’t always work out as anticipated, but in this case it seems like the work the city has done has checked the boxes.”

More housing, services needed

The city’s goal is to reduce camp enrollment to zero though the city expects it will continue to operate into fiscal year 2024-2025.

As people at Labath move into stable housing, the city and HomeFirst plan to continue relocating people from the camp into open units.

City housing officials are also working with social service and housing providers across the region to transition people into other temporary shelter or permanent housing.

The city is seeking state grants and other funding, such as revenue from a countywide sales tax for behavioral health, to cover future operations.

This fiscal year, camp operations are expected to cost about $2 million and are being paid for through a variety of city funds and a one-time donation from the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, Garcia said.

The city expects operational costs to decrease as the population at the camp declines and fewer services are required.

Vice Mayor Susan Hollingsworth Adams, whose northern Fifth District takes in both the camp and Labath, said the city has taken a compassionate but tougher stance on homelessness over the last several years. She described the city as a regional leader.

The city has made strides to reduce the number of encampments across the city ― clearing more than 80 encampments and finding temporary or permanent shelter for more than 120 people since 2019 ― and enacted stiffer measures to reduce the impacts of encampments on the community, she said.

Still, Hollingsworth Adams and Giudice said more work is needed.

Giudice said more affordable housing is needed to prevent homelessness in the first place. A proposed health and human services hub where residents can seek medical, behavioral health and other services rather than having to commute to other cities could also help identify people at risk sooner, he said.

Municipal leaders across the region must work collaboratively to increase shelter capacity and add more permanent supportive housing to provide those who are experiencing homelessness a way to get back on their feet, he said.

Additional mental health and substance use services are needed, too, he said, and he is looking to the state to help fund programs.

Giudice acknowledged reducing homelessness is tough, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

“There’s no road map or homeless bible where you pick up the book and go to chapter two and it says OK here’s what you do. It’s like science, you have to try it, test it and look at the results and see how you improve upon it,” he said.

Jones and McCormick, the two Labath residents, said more permanent housing is crucial.

McCormick has experienced homelessness for much of the last 12 years.

A native of New York, McCormick followed her sister to Marin County in the late 1970s when she was 21.

She purchased a home in Petaluma in 1993 with her second husband and lived there for 15 years until they divorced and sold the home. She moved to Oregon but lost her home there after it foreclosed during the Great Recession around 2010.

She returned to Sonoma County spending some time at COTS’ Mary Isaak Homeless Shelter in Petaluma, living with friends, and at local parks.

A series of bad decisions and “trusting the wrong people” kept her on the street the last few years, she recounted while sitting on the twin bed inside her unit at Labath, plush pillows and stuffed animals, lining the wall.

Over the last five months, she’s received physical health care, vaccines and checkups and has been working with a housing navigator to find a permanent home but it has been challenging.

But she finally has a lead: a room for rent in Petaluma.

“Hopefully it works out,” she said.

You can reach Staff Writer Paulina Pineda at 707-521-5268 or paulina.pineda@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @paulinapineda22.