The Dec. 8 dismantling of the Occupy camp spelled the end of a short-lived haven of safety for some homeless. Photo by Chip Scheuer.
On the lawn of San Lorenzo Park hours after police broke up the Occupy Santa Cruz camp, Devin Gonzales, 18 years old and homeless, is sitting on a picnic blanket with his legs crossed. Gonzales gazes across the park’s duck pond toward the collapsed tents of the Occupy camp he had been calling home. “This was finally a safe place to come,” says Gonzales, who had never felt safe sleeping on the San Lorenzo River levee or in the woods of Felton. The Occupy camp was a welcome change.
Safety is key for the homeless, according to Paul Brindel of the Community Action Board, which provides job training, homeless services and other programs for low-income people. Brindel says the Occupy Santa Cruz camp filled a community need. He says whenever there is an open and protected space like Occupy for people to camp, the homeless will gladly make use of it. “You have to sleep,” says Brindel. “And if you don’t have a place to do it legally, you have to do it on public land somewhere.”
At the park, Gonzales’ girlfriend Mallory Gray, also 18 and homeless, is sitting across from him, their rat Bella tucked stealthily away in her black sweatshirt. Beside them is a stroller shoved full of their belongings: blankets, clothes and a tent—or, as Gonzales calls them, “my life.” He and Gray are looking for some place to spend the rest of their December nights.
“We can go to Felton up the highway. We can camp on the side of freeways, behind cemeteries, behind McDonald’s, the levee, Pogonip,” says Gonzales looking at Gray under the brim of his black baseball cap. “Those are our options right now.”
The homeless have another option for now, according to Monica Martinez, executive director of the Santa Cruz Homeless Services Center. There are still about 25 spots in its winter shelter, she says, adding, “[But] I imagine when the rains start, we’ll see those numbers decrease.” The shelter, which has 100 spots total, opened its annual season in November with more vacancies than usual due to less demand this fall. Martinez says demand at the shelter jumped 50 percent on Thursday when the Occupy camp closed.
Occupy, whose political message dwindled as the camp’s homeless population grew, brought well-known issues into a more public light. On the grass Gray, while feeding her black puppy Indo small pieces of chicken, says she’s nervous when she pictures her future. “I can see two roads, and they’re very clear,” says Gray, wondering if she will be homeless for the rest of her life. “They are clear directions. It’s like: what do I do?”
