Tent village for homeless gets eviction notice
The new, privately funded site is on state property
SAN JOSE >> James Malenka grew up in Pennsylvania before moving to Silicon Valley for a job. But a few years ago, the work dried up along with the money and the 59-year-old saw his life begin to spiral out of control.
Malenka moved out of his apartment and into an RV, but the camper got impounded and he found himself sleeping first in his car and then in an encampment off Oakland Road near the San Jose Municipal Golf Course.
“It’s hard to have even clean clothes,” he said, of trying to search for a new job while living on the streets.
But over the weekend, Malenka said, things took a positive turn. He and six others moved into a
new privately funded encampment called Hope Village on a vacant lot complete with tall platform tents, security fencing, portable toilets and garbage services.
Organized and funded by a handful of people, including Peter Miron-Conk, co-founder of the nonprofit Casa de Clara Catholic Worker, the unsanctioned encampment sprung out of frustration from the city and state’s slow response to homelessness, advocates say.
“We needed something,” Miron-Conk said Tuesday morning at the quiet, tidy encampment, which he’s spent months preparing. “We think this could be a model.”
But now all that work could come crashing to a disappointing end.
The encampment — located on a long-empty lot that used to serve as overflow parking for a now shuttered traffic court on Ruff Drive off West Hedding Street — is on state Employment Development Department land. And on Monday, the California Highway Patrol arrived to deliver a 72-hour eviction notice.
CHP Officer Ross Lee, a spokesman for the agency, acknowledged Tuesday that the situation was fluid but said residents are still expected to vacate the encampment by Thursday.
“We know that this is a difficult situation,” Ross said, but added, “They are currently breaking the law.”
Assemblyman Ash Kalra, who represents the area, sent a letter to the CHP urging it to delay the eviction. At a rally organized by advocates Tuesday night at the encampment to push officials to keep Hope Village open, CHP Capt. Ceto Ortiz said his team was working with leaders across multiple jurisdictions to find a new location for the encampment.
“I have a lot of confidence we’re going to find a suitable location in the next few days,” Ortiz said.
The Employment Development Department referred questions to the CHP.
Miron-Conk — who got to know most of the encampment’s residents a couple of years ago by bringing mobile shower services to people living on the streets — and his fellow organizers say they’ve asked officials from San Jose to Sacramento for permission to run a tent village on the site or at a new location. But so far, they say, the requests have fallen flat. And while the city and state have directed more money toward housing for homeless people
in recent years, MironConk acknowledged, projects take years to complete and existing shelters are crowded and not a good fit for everyone.
“The city has been resistant to any sort of encampments. We think this is a good place,” Miron-Conk said. “If you don’t, find us a legal place to go.”
Ragan Henninger, deputy director of housing for the city, acknowledges the frustration but said the city is working to address the issue, including allocating millions of dollars in new state funding specifically for sheltering homeless people.
“We are in a crisis,” Henninger said. “We recognize the need is great and the need is urgent, and although tents or encampments are not a national best practice, we do recognize there are people suffering on the streets and we need an interim solution that can accommodate greater numbers of people.”
In 2014, the city forcibly broke up The Jungle, a massive encampment of some 300 people along Story Road. Officials have cleared a number of smaller encampments since then. And while some City Council members, including District 7 representative Tam Nguyen, have voiced support for sanctioned encampments, San Jose has largely shunned the idea, directing funding toward permanent supportive housing projects and shelters instead.
If residents are evicted, Miron-Conk said, they’ll just wind up back in other, unorganized encampments along the city’s creeks and freeways. Just steps away from Hope Village are several makeshift homeless encampments nestled amid overgrown bushes and trees.
Even though they’ve been at Hope Village just a few days, the residents say they are prepared to put up a fight to keep it open.
“I feel like I have a lot of contributions to make to society and I don’t want them to be left undone,” Malenka said. “This is a home base to start.”
Fellow resident Charles Nelson agrees.
At other encampments, the 63-year-old said, life was stressful. Once, he
said, he was taking classes to get an associate degree in machine technology at San Jose City College, but someone took his belongings while he was in class and he ended up dropping out.
“You were worried about having your stuff stolen all the time,” Nelson said. “This is about 1,000 percent better.”
Unlike at other encampments, there is no trash or debris piled high at Hope Village. And organizers selected residents without substance abuse problems or severe mental health issues, to minimize conflict. Each person has a tent tall enough to stand up in and a lockbox to secure personal belongings. Organizers regularly collect trash, and portable toilets are onsite.
For years, Nelson said he has hauled a heavy backpack with his most prized possessions with him on bike trips around town. At Hope Village, he said, he has a safe place to leave them. Organizers are onsite much of the day, and when they’re not, the residents trade off supervising the area.
Dozens of residents and advocates attended the rally Tuesday night, including Councilman Nguyen and Councilwoman Dev Davis, and staffers from several county and state offices. A sign adorned the entrance to Hope Village bearing messages such as “Keep up the good fight.” One young boy held a sign that read “Compassion doesn’t need a permit.”
“This is not a political fight, it’s a moral fight,” Miron-Conk said. “As a society we’ve been lulled into accepting the present conditions.”
He and others acknowledge one small village won’t solve the area’s homelessness crisis, but say it could grow to hold several dozen people, and point to other vacant lots as possible locations for future encampments.
“It’s not the Ritz, but it’s clean, neat and attractive,” Miron-Conk said. “If you want to arrest us, arrest us.” Staff writer Mark Gomez contributed to this report. Contact Emily DeRuy at 408-920-5077.