"Ortiz was one of the 370 people who called Columbus Park home. Located south of the San Jose Airport, it was the city's largest encampments. We were there reporting throughout the dismantling process that took around three months to complete. By September, just over 600,000 pounds of trash were removed, 121 vehicles were cleared and nearly 200 people agreed to come indoors."
"'They promised us a laundry room here until we moved in, but then we moved, they said, 'Oh, that's not going to happen after all,' Ortiz said. Ortiz said a mobile laundry service comes every Tuesday. He said a positive thing about living here is that the staff are great. A negative is the rules, such as no visitors for the first 100 days. He wants his three-year-old godson to visit."
Residents from the Columbus Park encampment moved into converted motels, including Casa Linda, after the city converted five motels this summer to rehouse people who were unhoused. Many residents had lived in the park for years; some sold RVs and enrolled in interim housing programs to qualify for rooms. Cleanup efforts removed over 600,000 pounds of trash and cleared 121 vehicles, with nearly 200 people agreeing to come indoors by September. New motel residents report benefits such as meals and supportive staff and drawbacks such as lost promised amenities, visitor restrictions, and limits on cooking.
Read at ABC7 San Francisco
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