"On a soggy morning in Gilroy, Greg Porter lifts his cat and puts her inside the tent where he lives to protect her from the rain. The drops pattering on his tarp mark the first signs of the rainy season as he ducks into the flap and pulls out a multicolored flyer with bold red capital letters: VACATE."
"Like many others in Gilroy, he has lived at the encampment on Santa Clara Valley Water District land on and off for years, but now Valley Water is shutting it down, along with another a few miles away - the two largest encampments in Gilroy. While advocates for the unhoused maintain that the managed encampments served as key tools for providing services and limiting pollution, Valley Water officials assert they have become sites of serious safety concerns."
"Now, the over 50 residents of the encampments face an uncertain future, and the closure could have ripple effects in a city with arguably one of the worst homelessness problems in the Bay Area. "I don't know what a lot of these people are going to do," said Porter. "It's just a no-win situation.""
Valley Water is shutting down the two largest encampments on its Santa Clara Valley Water District land in Gilroy, displacing more than 50 residents. The agency previously managed the sites with trash collection, portable toilets and rules intended to limit pollution and provide services. Advocates say the managed encampments helped deliver services and reduce environmental harm, while Valley Water cites escalating safety concerns as justification for closure. The closures follow a 2023 Gilroy ordinance restricting camping on public lands and citywide encampment cleanups. Residents now face uncertain options as rain begins and shelter capacity remains limited in a city with high homelessness rates.
Read at The Mercury News
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