Homeless people say they’ll likely return to their spots if California allows them under Newsome’s order | News, Sports, Jobs

Homeless woman Esca Guernon repairs her tent that she set up at an encampment off the 405 Freeway in the Van Nuys section of Los Angeles on Friday, July 26, 2024, in Los Angeles. California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order directing state agencies to “urgently take action to address and clear dangerous” homeless encampments on state property, while also giving city and local leaders the impetus to do the same. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Three years ago, Joel Hernandez built a small wooden shack under the 405 Freeway that cuts through Los Angeles.

He was helped by a friend who lived in his cottage just a few steps from the steps, which he had painstakingly dug into the hillside and reinforced with wooden planks.

Similar homes have been cleared by state and city officials during homeless encampment cleanups in Hernandez over the years, so the 62-year-old humbly accepts that his days in the makeshift shelter on state property may be numbered. California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order Thursday directing state agencies to begin clearing homeless encampments on public land, including freeway lots.

“You’ll get used to it,” Hernandez said. “I have to put it all back together every time.”

Many people living in these camps expressed a similar sense of quiet resignation. Some simply wondered: Where else can one go?

The order comes on the heels of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this summer that allowed cities to enforce bans on outdoor sleeping in public spaces even if there are no shelter beds available.

Newsome’s order directs state agencies to take swift action and follow the example of the California Department of Transportation, known as Caltrans, which has removed 11,188 encampments and more than 248,000 cubic yards (189,600 cubic meters) of debris from those encampments along state rights-of-way, mostly highways and expressways, since July 2021. Caltrans oversees most of the land under and near highways and expressways in the state.

However, in most cases, people living in the camps return after the officials leave.

“I haven’t found a better place” said Hernandez, who has been on the waiting list for a shelter for three years. At least here, he lives close to his friends and gets along with most of the people in the camp, Hernandez said.

Hernandez and others acknowledge that it’s not the safest place to live. A recent fire destroyed many of the underpass shelters, leaving the underside of the highway blackened and the area covered in burned trash, a broken grill, abandoned shopping carts and more.

Esca Guernon lives next to the highway, farther from the underpass, with her dog Champion. Sometimes people disturb her tent when she sleeps, or steal her things. But she always returns after searching the camp.

“We need to take what we have, like our bikes or something, and go there and have them clean it up.” Guernon said, pointing to the other side of the street. “I’m coming back because I don’t know where to go.”

On Friday, the outreach team from Hope the Mission in Van Nuys, California, handed out cold bottles of water and snacks to Guernon and her friend. They will return in a few days to begin the intake process and place them on a waiting list for shelter.

“We just build relationships with them” said Armando Covarrubias, the organization’s outreach team leader. It may be necessary to visit someone multiple times to accept their offer of help, he said.

Covarrubias said Newsome’s executive order does nothing to reduce the number of homeless people, many of whom are forced to stay outside while waiting for a place in a shelter.

“This is not a solution. This is not fair to them” Covarrubias said. “It just causes them more stress.”

Newsom and supporters of his order, which includes many businesses, say the encampments cannot be allowed to remain because they pose health and safety risks to both homeless people and nearby residents.

Its implementing regulation concerns “understanding the urgency required of local governments to carry out their tasks” Newsom said.

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