San Jose to clear its largest homeless camp -- again

A representative for Mayor Matt Mahan’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

“Over the last three years, we’ve expanded shelter and interim housing faster than any other city on the West Coast,” Mahan said in a statement. “That 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.”

It’s 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’s largest homeless camp 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 to move people into subsidized housing using vouchers.

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.

Even though the city fenced the area off, he’s 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’t care, he said.

“One 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,” Aguirre told San José Spotlight. “When you lose that trust, it’s too difficult to get it back again.”

People who have taken refuge at the Jungle in recent years are hopeful.

One man currently living at the Jungle, who didn’t provide his name due to fears of immigration enforcement, said he’s 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.

He said an outreach worker from nonprofit People Assisting the Homeless (PATH) told him he will move to the Taylor Street safe sleeping site before being placed in temporary housing.

“I feel good about getting housing because no one wants this life,” he told San José Spotlight. “Having the opportunity for housing is better than living here because you got showers and everything. Here you have nothing.”

Jose Cuvias, 44, became homeless when he lost his construction job seven years ago. He said he’s been waiting for housing.

“I feel good about getting housing,” he told San José Spotlight in Spanish through a translator. “I want to get out of here.”

Frederico Gamez, 25, is also ready to leave street living behind. He’s been homeless for the past five years, and said he built his makeshift shelter himself.

“I feel fine (about the sweep),” Gamez told San José Spotlight through a translator. “We don’t have anywhere to go and I want to leave.”

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’s outreach team is also onsite collecting information to enter into the countywide software system that tracks homeless people. Outreach began Feb. 25.

“As capacity allows, the city’s 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,” spokesperson Sarah Fields told San José Spotlight.

Last summer, the city cleared its largest homeless encampment at Columbus Park, 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.

Homeless advocates and residents previously told San José Spotlight the Columbus Park sweep and outreach were conducted in a haphazard and rushed manner. Residents who moved into the hotels previously said they feel caged in by the rules they have to follow.

Once the sweep of the Jungle is completed, the area will be declared a “ no encampment zone ” and signs will be posted to deter people from re-encamping.

Silicon Valley’s largest city has 6,503 homeless residents. 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 across a dozen new or expanded temporary housing sites.

“(The city) might house a lot of people, but there are still going to be people that don’t want to get housed,” Aguirre told San José Spotlight. “I’ve also stayed in some of these temporary housing units, and they’re not run very well.”

This story was originally published by San Jose Spotlight and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.