Caltrans plans to begin clearing a homeless encampment in East San Jose on Monday, Oct. 12, and keep working the area through the end of October. Many of the people living there arrived after the city broke up the Jungle, its last large encampment, this spring.
The camp sits on state land north of Interstate 280, along trails behind the freeway overpass near McLaughlin Avenue, Woodborough Place and Olinder Park, a little farther down Coyote Creek from where the Jungle stood near Story Road and Happy Hollow Park & Zoo. Roughly 100 people lived in the Jungle before the city cleared it.
How many people are there depends on who's counting
When San Jose cleared the Jungle, city officials said they would offer shelter to everyone living there. Emma Hartung, an organizer with the advocacy group Showing Up for Racial Justice, told San José Spotlight she thinks about 40 residents fell through the cracks. She said she counted 45 people near Olinder Park one week and 36 the next. A Caltrans spokesperson put the number at 20.
Earlier this month, the same group brought tents to San Jose City Hall to protest after residents said they had been told to clear out, NBC Bay Area reported.
Hartung said she took about a dozen residents to the city's Housing Department to ask for placements before the sweep. When she came back the next day with six people, she said, housing staff called police and the group left. A housing department spokesperson said she couldn't comment on individual cases, but that the city does significant outreach before large encampment cleanups.
Shelter that's too far away
Some residents did get offers. One 77-year-old man told the Spotlight he was offered a spot at the Cerone tiny home village in North San Jose but turned it down because it was too far from his doctor at a clinic on Tully Road. He uses a walker and takes the bus, and he said he's on a housing waitlist but doesn't know when a place will open up.
Assemblymember Ash Kalra, whose district includes East San Jose, has pushed for the sweep to wait until people have housing. His office has helped residents get ID cards. Kalra disputed the idea, often voiced by Mayor Matt Mahan, that people in camps are refusing shelter, and suggested the city add restrooms or dumpsters in the meantime.
Caltrans said it notifies service providers and local governments before removing camps that threaten infrastructure or people, so outreach workers can connect residents with services and shelter.
What's next
The cleanup is set to start Monday and run through late October, just as the rainy season begins. Advocates are still asking Caltrans and the city to delay it.