Where to go next: Homeless couple facing another move
Couple who once rebuilt a life in Oroville prepare to be moved from Comanche Creek Greenway
CHICO >> On a warm afternoon March 31, Thalia Metcalf and Donny Arbayo stood by their tent in Chico’s Comanche Creek Greenway, sharing cigarettes in the sunshine, and considered where they need to move to next.
Metcalf, 33, said she was born in Colusa and has now been unhoused in Chico for about two years. She met Arbayo, 30, five years ago.
“We met each other in Oroville, at Gold Country (Casino)” Arbayo said. “I was already homeless but she wasn’t. In the first year of being together we had our son and we both as a team took each other off the streets.”
Torres Shelter in Chico helped the couple but “we did all the footwork because they can’t do everything for you,” he said. They found a home in Oroville after six months.
But after the Camp Fire, Arbayo said they had to walk away from their home in Oroville for multiple reasons. They now have two children.
Born in Oroville and raised in Chico, “I’ve been homeless on and off the streets since the age of five,” Arbayo said.
Since becoming unhoused again, the two have been moved from public spaces multiple times, such as from Annie’s Glen in Bidwell Park and from under the Highway 99 overpass in the park.
Metcalf said to get by, they receive food stamps and state benefits, and “fly a sign” on the streets each day, asking for help from vehicles driving by. When doing this, Chico police will occasionally move them if they are in a place where they shouldn’t be, and they move along. They also face some harassment from passersby, but “we just ignore it,” she said.
While in the park March 31, she said “The cops have been coming by a lot, but they haven’t asked us to move yet.”
“Living in a car is difficult. Being in a tent is fine, it’s a lot easier. In the car, it’s easier to drive back and forth anywhere instead of walking, because it’s hot or cold, or when people are old and don’t have rides or anything, it’s difficult.”
Metcalf said it is also hard living in the park and being concerned about leaving their property.
“It all depends if you have the right people to trust. You have to have a lot of trust in somebody to watch your stuff. A lot of people do steal, but we try to take care of each other.”
What does ease the difficulties of living without
a roof and transportation, Metcalf added, is some help from local residents.
“There’s a lot of people that come out here and give us food,” she said, adding donated clothes have also helped. In return, she says she tries to help others they meet in the same situation.
“I love to help people,” Metcalf said. ” ‘Cause we’re all struggling out here.”
Strife among those camping does cause some issues, she said. “Most people don’t want to stick together.”
“I don’t like people stealing or blaming each other for stupid s—. We don’t need that in the community.”
With that said, she thinks it’s been fine living in the Greenway and has felt relatively safe.
Having seen Chico police officers coming through the area nearly every day, and knowing their camping in the park is violating the city’s park ordinance, Metcalf said they are trying to figure out where they can legally go next once they are officially given a notice. Arbayo said the officers came almost every day, counting tents and writing down license plate numbers.
“We’re always confused where we’re going to go next,” Metcalf said. “If they
ask us to leave, where are we going to go? They want us to go to the sidewalks and I’ve walked the sidewalks but there’s only certain things you can have.”
And “It’s freezing cold outside at night,” she said. Arbayo added they have already been moved from seeking shelter from rain under entryways to buildings multiple times.
He said police have also taken their property a few times, such as a large canopy. Another time while camping in the Lindo Channel, he said they were given a 72-hour notice to leave, but the next day the couple were out of the area, and when they returned found their items had been confiscated.
The couple have stayed at the Torres Shelter several times. But Arbayo said he no longer wants to be in shelters, in part due to not wanting to be around people from a variety of different situations. Metcalf added she is afraid of going in the shelter for fear of getting sick.
In addition, they have a dog, which complicates returning to a shelter due to current restrictions. Arbayo said Project Roomkey would not let him bring his dog to a motel room. They keep hearing different reports of how many beds are open at Torres Shelter, he said.
“They’re telling everyone to go to the shelter, but there’s not enough room even without the COVID-19 (restrictions),” he said.”
“If there’s 72 tents here but they only have 40 beds open, that’s not enough beds. And it’s not just here, you got other people at other places.
“They gotta do their math,” he added. “They don’t count everybody. There could be six people in one tent.”
If they don’t go to a shelter, Arbayo said their options for finding a new home feel very limited. Although the state’s Section 8 is open for applying for funds, wait lists continue to be years out for many people due to no currently open availability of units in Chico.
“And everyone that’s homeless qualifies for it,”
“They’re telling everyone to go to the shelter, but there’s not enough room even without the COVID-19 (restrictions).” — Donny Arbayo
he said.
Without finding an affordable housing opening, they don’t feel able to find another option for a roof they can pay for.
“You have to work three jobs and have roommates in order to keep that apartment or house, here in California,” Arbayo said.
“I know people that have bought land and (offered) it for the city, but the city turned them down every time,” he added, referring to proposals for outdoor sheltering options from Ed McLaughlin and for using the BMX site near Torres Shelter.
“It doesn’t make sense to me,” Arbayo said.
Chico city staff should be asking other jurisdictions for ideas and solutions to homelessness, with so many people on the streets, he added.
As of Thursday, April 8, campers like Metcalf and Arbayo were officially given written notices from Chico police to leave the Greenway within 72 hours, per the city code’s parks ordinance.