Grass Valley Recovery Home Residents May Be Kicked Out By City After Christmas
GRASS VALLEY (CBS13) — Residents at a Grass Valley recovery home are told by the city they have just days to get out because of numerous code and safety issues.
Four people are living there now in the divided rooms. It may not look like much at first glance, but to them, it's home. And a home they are at risk of losing during the holidays.
It's here where Shelly Bianchi says she's turning her life around.
"It gave me a whole new outlook on life. I had nothing and now I have something," she said. "It gave me a place to sleep, a place to relax, a place to get on the Internet and find jobs."
Once homeless and addicted to drugs, she says she's been clean for 80 days now, but her time may be running short.
Greg Zaller runs the CoLiving Network, a series of Grass Valley homes for people to recover from addiction. He admits he converted the building into a home without getting the city's permission.
"I didn't think we were gonna get approval for it, so I decided I was just gonna go ahead with it, and face it when the time came," he said.
And that time is now, as the city is kicking residents out by Dec. 29.
Aside from permit problems, inspectors say they discovered safety violations, including smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors.
"It's very stressful," Bianchi said. "It's something I don't want to deal with, but I have to deal with it."
With Grass Valley shelters already crowded, it's difficult to see where they would end up.
Just before our interview, a city councilman contacted Zaller to help find creative solutions.
"I think people deep down want to do something different that works," Zaller said. "They understand we're doing something different than works."
He says one possibility is converting the space into a thrift store to raise money for alternate housing. Otherwise, they'll try to get the proper permits in time.
It would be a perfect Christmas present for Bianchi.
"These people helped me, they took me under their arms and they're making me who I want to be," she said.
They're hoping to fast track the permit process, so people could stay here, but it's unclear if that's going to happen, leaving the future of this place very much in doubt.