San Jose is clearing one of its most infamous homeless camps again, in what city officials claim will be the last time.<\/p>\n
San Jose is clearing one of its most infamous homeless camps again, in what city officials claim will be the last time.<\/p>\n
About 100 homeless people have repopulated the creek around Story Road across from Happy Hollow Park & Zoo \u2014 an area known as \u201c the Jungle<\/a>.\u201d The city will begin clearing the area on April 15 and is conducting outreach with offers of housing leading up to the sweep. According to the city\u2019s website<\/a>, people encamped at the Jungle will be prioritized for housing at the Cerone tiny home site<\/a> in North San Jose, which opened in early February.<\/p>\n A representative for Mayor Matt Mahan\u2019s office did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n \u201cOver the last three years, we\u2019ve expanded shelter and interim housing faster than any other city on the West Coast,\u201d Mahan said in a statement. \u201cThat work has allowed us to decommission our largest encampments so that we can restore public spaces for community use and connect people to the services they need to return to self-sufficiency.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s not the first time offers of housing have been made to people living in the Jungle. In 2014, the 68-acre camp was widely referred to as the nation\u2019s largest homeless camp<\/a> where about 300 people lived in tents and makeshift homes along the tendrils of Coyote Creek. When the city dismantled the encampment more than a decade ago, it set $4 million aside<\/a> to move people into subsidized housing using vouchers.<\/p>\n One of those people who got a housing voucher, and continues to remain housed today, is Robert Aguirre. While he is grateful to no longer be sleeping by the creek, he said the city left some people behind the first time.<\/p>\n Even though the city fenced the area off, he\u2019s seen people return to the Jungle and slip into the despair of life on the streets. Getting passed up for housing enforces a feeling that people don\u2019t care, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the factors that is essential is the people that are wanting to get housed have to trust the people (who) are trying to get them housed,\u201d Aguirre told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cWhen you lose that trust, it\u2019s too difficult to get it back again.\u201d<\/p>\n People who have taken refuge at the Jungle in recent years are hopeful.<\/p>\n One man currently living at the Jungle, who didn\u2019t provide his name due to fears of immigration enforcement, said he\u2019s ready to move on. He fled Mexico after someone threatened his life, and moved to San Jose to stay with a cousin. After they were evicted because his cousin could no longer pay rent, he ended up at the Jungle.<\/p>\n He said an outreach worker from nonprofit People Assisting the Homeless (PATH) told him he will move to the Taylor Street safe sleeping site<\/a> before being placed in temporary housing.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel good about getting housing because no one wants this life,\u201d he told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cHaving the opportunity for housing is better than living here because you got showers and everything. Here you have nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n Jose Cuvias, 44, became homeless when he lost his construction job seven years ago. He said he\u2019s been waiting for housing.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel good about getting housing,\u201d he told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight in Spanish through a translator. \u201cI want to get out of here.\u201d<\/p>\n Frederico Gamez, 25, is also ready to leave street living behind. He\u2019s been homeless for the past five years, and said he built his makeshift shelter himself.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel fine (about the sweep),\u201d Gamez told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight through a translator. \u201cWe don\u2019t have anywhere to go and I want to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n The Jungle has a sizable population of Spanish speakers. A housing department spokesperson said the city contracted with PATH to engage with residents living at the Jungle, and bilingual outreach workers are being sent to the encampment. The city\u2019s outreach team is also onsite collecting information to enter into the countywide software system that tracks homeless people. Outreach began Feb. 25.<\/p>\n \u201cAs capacity allows, the city\u2019s abatements continue to emphasize making shelter and interim housing placements for individuals and families exiting encampments a part of its strategy to reduce unsheltered homelessness,\u201d spokesperson Sarah Fields told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/p>\n Last summer, the city cleared its largest homeless encampment at Columbus Park<\/a>, where approximately 370 people had congregated in RVs and tents. The city moved the majority of residents into five hotels San Jose converted into temporary housing<\/a>.<\/p>\n Homeless advocates and residents previously told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight the Columbus Park sweep and outreach were conducted in a haphazard and rushed manner. Residents who moved into the hotels previously said<\/a> they feel caged in by the rules they have to follow.<\/p>\n Once the sweep of the Jungle is completed, the area will be declared a \u201c no encampment zone<\/a> \u201d and signs will be posted to deter people from re-encamping.<\/p>\n Silicon Valley\u2019s largest city has 6,503 homeless residents<\/a>. About 60% of that population is unsheltered, or 3,959 people, and 2,544 are sheltered, according to a point-in-time count conducted last January. Since the count, the city has added more than 1,000 beds<\/a> across a dozen new or expanded temporary housing sites.<\/p>\n \u201c(The city) might house a lot of people, but there are still going to be people that don\u2019t want to get housed,\u201d Aguirre told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cI\u2019ve also stayed in some of these temporary housing units, and they\u2019re not run very well<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n