Homeless campers cleared from Coyote Creek in San Jose
SAN JOSE - Dozens of homeless men and women were removed from their encampments along a four-mile stretch of Coyote Creek in San Jose in an effort that's proving to be controversial.
"I feel like a refugee in my own country," says Cathleen Langan who's lived along the creek off and on for seven years.
"Anytime that I've been going through a hard time, this has been a place of refuge for me," she said.
The Santa Clara Valley Water District is currently working on a flood control project along the creek which triggered the sweep of encampments in the area.
But the challenge of finding housing for the dozens of men and women displaced by the sweep highlights, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan says, the out-of-control crisis of homelessness in the city.
"We have thousands of people living in our streets. And we literally have people dying on the streets," Mayor Mahan said. The mayor is asking the city council to adopt a rapid-response to homelessness, prioritizing emergency shelters and services.
The mayor wants to spend $38-million in the upcoming fiscal year on emergency interim housing and services. Some of that money would be diverted from permanent affordable housing projects.
"If we spend the dollars in the same way we always have, we're going to get the same outcomes," he said at a press conference at City Hall. He says getting people like Jaime Navarro into emergency shelter can be extremely beneficial.
"Before moving into the tiny home, I was homeless for nine years on the street," Navarro said. He says he lives in emergency shelter in south San Jose -- a setup similar to what Cathleen was ultimately offered.
"It's not that I'm off my feet. This interim housing is somewhere where I won't get arrested," she said.