Camp Resolution resident calls months-long battle resulting in lease a win that brings "hope"
SACRAMENTO - Saturday, April 1 was a day of celebration for Camp Resolution, an unhoused community that has been set up at a fenced in, city-owned parking lot at Colfax and Arden Way for more than a year.
Those living in the camp have forged a months-long fight with the City of Sacramento to stay in the lot that was originally intended to help them. Now, with a lease signed, camp residents call it a win for homeless people citywide. For them, there's much that this day brings.
"Hope. Mainly hope," said resident Satearah Murphy with a smile.
Murphy says she found safety, family and stability at Camp Resolution after years surviving the streets.
"When they come and sweep and take your stuff violently, if you've never experienced that you don't know what a person needs to transition back into society. You couldn't know," said Murphy.
The community of around 50 homeless people who live on the lot began their fight in November of 2022 when the City of Sacramento issued notices around the camp saying it would be cleared, and that residents must vacate.
"We can't just keep pushing people in circles with no solutions," said Crystal Sanchez, president of the Sacramento Homeless Union.
The vacant, fenced in parking lot was originally deemed by the city a safe site for the unhoused to sleep in vehicles.
But the city later cleared the camp out after finding toxins, including benzene, in the soil. Residents came back to the site they called home, technically trespassing. They haven't left since.
"Everyone has different circumstances that lead them to this point. That doesn't make them bad people," said Murphy of her homeless neighbors.
Camp Resolution residents and supporters took their fight to city hall in November, protesting the planned sweep of the camp that was set to take place the next day.
Temporary reprieve came, and the sweep was called off. But now, Saturday's announcement brings the news that a lease has been signed and those living at Camp Resolution can stay.
"We want to develop this camp as a staging ground for actual housing," said Anthony Prince.
Prince is the lead legal counsel for the Sacramento Homeless Union and helped residents negotiate the lease with the city. The lease is active for 120 days, but in the fine print, he says there is an exception.
"So the fact of the matter is that there is no end date for this leasehold. It ends, if at all, when everyone is housed," said Prince.
Could it be a model for helping the homeless citywide? Could more Camp Resolutions be established?
"We are creating a safe place, a place they can call home. We are doing here what the city has failed to do for years," said Murphy of Sacramento's affordable housing crisis.
The lease helps find a home for the homeless, an address for those without, a place to live until one more permanent is found.
Camp Resolution has been given the land by the city for free. But as part of the lease, residents will not be allowed to live in tents. Those in tents now will be provided trailers by the city in the coming weeks.
