Last resort homeless encampments shut down after safety concerns

"After living in the current encampment on and off for a decade, Monday that ended for Porter as Santa Clara Valley Water District began clearing out the two largest encampments in Gilroy. Despite pleas by local officials to give the city more time to find housing for the residents, Valley Water staff who announced the closures last month insisted that the sites had become too unsafe to allow them to remain."

"While the cleanups address those concerns, advocates say it will make it difficult to house and serve those who lived at the encampments. They don't like us here (in the encampments), they don't like us on the sidewalk, said Jose Mendoza, 29, who had lived at the encampment for the last five years after spending time sleeping behind buildings. Whatever we do, it's our fault."

"Despite its small size, Gilroy has one of the largest unhoused populations in the Bay Area leading to a history of problems both for those who live on the street and for housed people in the city. For years, unhoused residents clustered in two encampments on Valley Water land. In recent years, Valley Water began a program similar to a roadside trash service."

Santa Clara Valley Water District cleared two large encampments in Gilroy, displacing residents who had lived there for years. Valley Water said the sites had become unsafe and had announced the closures last month. Advocates warned that cleanup operations will make housing outreach and service delivery more difficult. Residents described feeling unwelcome and blamed for visible homelessness. Gilroy has one of the largest unhoused populations in the Bay Area and a history of street-related problems. Valley Water had offered sanitation services and later added portable toilets while imposing rules and removing people who violated them. A 2023 city ordinance prompted broader encampment cleanups.

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