The Articles That Brought Visibility

1st: Article from 3/2/09 on Eviction of Homeless Citizensfrom White Slough Area
2nd: Article from 3/3/09 on Catherine Littleton, a volunteer with the Homeless Ministry from Northbay Covenant Church
3rd: Article from 2/8/09 on Homeless camps in White Slough area off Sonoma Blvd.

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Pack up, move on
By Tony Burchyns/Times-Herald staff writer

Posted: 03/02/2009 01:01:36 AM PST

Vallejo police have ordered dozens of homeless people living by the White Slough to vacate their long-standing encampment by the end of the week or face arrest for trespassing.

Police distributed warning fliers Thursday, giving occupants eight days to leave their campsite in the River Park area behind the Carl's Jr. restaurant on Sonoma Boulevard.

Some occupants said they were caught off guard because they have been living there for years. They said the police and the city had tacitly approved of the camp, even encouraging homeless individuals around town to relocate there so they would be out of sight.

"There's nowhere to go," 56-year-old Francesca George said from inside her orange tent. "I came here because I thought I was going to die out there. ... It was so cold."

George said she's been on the streets for about nine years.

She said she suffers from ulcers and can hardly walk, so relocating would be painful -- literally.
"You don't really want to be where you shouldn't be, but you got to be somewhere," George said.
It is unclear how many homeless are living near the slough on what is private property. Some said the group numbers as high as 50 regulars.

Alhough the site is privately owned, some occupants said they had been allowed to camp there.
George said a Vallejo police officer recently suggested that she move to the field to be out of sight.

"Someone needs to buck up and help these people so they can help themselves," said Maureen Quinn, who said she lived in the camp until moving to a convalescent home after being diagnosed with cancer.

Quinn, however, wasn't sure what could be done on such short notice.

George Dix, a manager at Christian Help Center, Vallejo's one homeless shelter, said the city is ill-equipped to handle its homeless population.

"We do need more help here in Vallejo in terms of placement for these people," said Dix, who has been homeless. "We have 65 beds here and we have been full for the past eight or nine months. We need more rooms and more beds."

Health issues surrounding the camp may have contributed to the eviction, Dix said. There were signs of unsanitary conditions and broken bottles near tents Friday.

Fliers distributed by police warned the campers, "After your arrest, your personal property will be taken and stored at our evidence facility located at the Vallejo-Benicia Humane Society."

E-mail Tony Burchyns at tburchyns@thnewsnet.com or call 553-6831.

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Volunteer not rich, but eager to share
By Rachel Raskin-Zrihen/Times-Herald staff writer

Posted: 03/02/2009 01:01:38 AM PST

Catherine Littleton has never met a homeless person she didn't want to help.

So says Fay Mitchell of Vallejo, who has worked for more than a year helping Littleton help the homeless.

"Catherine is one of the most dedicated people I've ever known," Mitchell said. "I've seen her stop in the middle of the street to give food to someone. Her main purpose is to have these people know that God loves them. That's her heart. She's going through a lot in her personal life right now, but she puts that aside and does what she needs to do."

To an outsider, Littleton's life could seem overwhelming, but the Benicia resident said she's at peace, believing God will ensure everything works out as it should.

At 52, the Huntington Beach native and former Vallejo resident is dealing with her new husband's recent diagnosis of Lou Gehrig's disease and the resulting impending loss of the couple's house.

As a Realtor, Littleton's income drastically fell with the housing crisis, her mother isn't well and she's raising one of her grandchildren.

Through all this, Littleton, who has nine children and 12 grandchildren between her and husband Donnie, said she works to feed, clothe and pray with Vallejo's homeless every week. It's been her passion for about a decade, she said.

"When the housing market tanked, I went back to school for social work," she said. "I want to work with the homeless. I've always wanted to do that."

The Littletons believe in miracles, and hope for one for Donnie, she said.

"The only treatment or cure for ALS is prayer," she said. "And we're doing that and trusting in God. It's been a journey. And without the help of the Lord and the support of friends, family, the church and my husband's former Safeway co-workers, we wouldn't have made it."

Life turned from privilege to poverty when Littleton was in her early teens, she said.

"My mom got sick, so we moved from Huntington Beach to Vallejo and ended up on welfare," she said. Her only sibling, her younger brother Paul Edwards, a promising baseball player being pursued by the Giants, was found slain in 1983 at 24, she said.

Littleton said her own struggles only serve to help her better relate to those she's moved to help.
For the past decade, Littleton has worked with a ministry she helped found called Hearts for the Homeless. The ministry's volunteers visit the homeless where they congregate and distribute sack lunches and whatever else has been donated, she said. It includes a core group of about eight and began as part of Church on the Hill, though now it is affiliated with Northbay Covenant Church.

"Because the homeless are transient, our ministry is also," she said. "We go behind the library, to a trailer park, a motel, wherever the homeless are."

Littleton said she and her group distribute some 60 lunches each Thursday, but the need is rapidly growing and has begun including more families.

"Recently, there was this one man who worked all his life but got laid off and was living in a van with his wife and four kids," she said. "I can't believe how much it's growing. It's the worst I've seen it in 10 years."

Being able to make a difference to people whose problems dwarf even hers, is what motivates Littleton, she said.

"I see the difference we're making in their lives, and that just makes me know that all the hard stuff had a purpose," she said. "The love you get back when you're out there feeding the homeless, when you see you're being used by God in a tangible way, it makes it worth it."
Anyone interested in helping Hearts for the Homeless can call 704-8016.

Contact staff writer Rachel Raskin-Zrihen at (707) 553-6824 or RachelZ@thnewsnet.com.

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Homeless camps strain environment
By RACHEL RASKIN-/ZRIHEN

Times-Herald staff writer

Posted: 02/08/2009 02:00:48 AM PST

Bill Wiley is a man with no other place to go. He said he's been living in Vallejo's various homeless encampments since 2002.

Originally from Concord, the 49-year-old Army veteran said he lives among about 30 homeless men and women in the White Slough area and uses "the pond" for bathing and the tulles as a toilet.

Wiley and dozens of others are living in an alternative Vallejo universe -- a world hidden in the underbrush along waterways, in culverts, under freeway overpasses and other secluded spots.

The legions of homeless in Solano County, and in Vallejo in particular, are increasingly setting up camp along the water and in high grass, and some say they present a growing environmental danger. There have already been a number of fires that officials say are attributable to the homeless.

"It seems due to the increasing down-turn in the economy, that there are more people living in areas around the city," said Vallejo Fire Department spokesman Bill Tweedy.

Tweedy said authorities are familiar with several encampments in the River Park area, the vacant area behind Carls Jr. on Sonoma Boulevard, and in the wetland area near Raley's.

Wiley's "neighborhood" consists of several tents, a couple of incapacitated cars and some makeshift shelters, all inhabited, some for many years.

The encampments are a vexing problem for environmentally conscious people like Doug Darling of Friends of Lake Chabot.

"As an environmentalist, I'm concerned about the negative impact these folks may be having on our water," Darling said. "I understand they're down on their luck, and that it could happen to anyone, but these are our wetlands, and they're creating an environmental hazard."

Many homeless people choose to stay near water hidden from plain view, for obvious reasons, Darling said. And, also for obvious reasons, their presence tends to negatively impact the area's cleanliness, he said.

"People living on our waterways create an impact," Darling said. "The question is, how do we approach that? What do we do? Obviously, these people have no place to go or they wouldn't be here."

One neighbor of Wiley's is Michael, 30, a Vallejo native who said he's been living on the water for several years. He said his family helps sometimes, "but there's a situation."

"I'm trying to get organized and to get a job on the side," said Michael, who declined to give his last name. "I recycle to survive."

"We're making do with nothing," Michael said of himself and his girlfriend. "We have comforters to keep us warm, and the church brings food sometimes. At Christmas and Thanksgiving, they brought us dinner."

Northbay Covenant is one local organization that's been working with Vallejo's growing homeless population for the past four years. Pastor Harvey Goldstein said his congregants visit as many of Vallejo's homeless as they can every Thursday.

"The numbers have been growing, especially in the past six months," Goldstein said. "We go to where they congregate, form a circle, pray for them, and then hand out whatever we have -- clothes, blankets, rain gear, whatever, and some sort of bag lunch."

Goldstein said he recognizes the homeless are likely negatively impacting their surroundings, but he feels society's concern for the environment needs to be tempered by compassion.

"They're the poorest of the poor, and we have a heart for those that are poor," Goldstein said. "We don't know the answer, but these are human beings, and until someone comes up with an answer, we can't let them starve or freeze."

Code Enforcement manager Nimat Shakoor-Grantham said her office's mandate is to get owners to clear garbage, trash and other debris from private property. It has no jurisdiction over publicly owned land, and removing homeless people is not in the job description.

"There was this one older man living near the water between Wilson Avenue and Highway 37, who uses a cane and doesn't seem that well," Shakoor-Grantham said. "I've called various charities and agencies about him, but no one seems to be able to help. It's frustrating."

Shakoor-Grantham said she even asked if getting the man arrested might be an option.

"I figured at least that way he'd have three hots and a cot, but the police will only arrest and release."

The White Slough homeless say they try to create a civilized "neighborhood," and to get along as a group. Most disagreements are over who gets possession of a particular recyclable can or bottle, said Tony Rosario, 47, another "neighborhood" resident.

"There's a lot of competition," he said. "I ate Top Ramen for every meal for the past month."

Also a veteran, Rosario said he's lived on the water for nine months.

"Before that, I had a life in Vallejo," Rosario said. "I got laid off and things just started going down hill, picking up speed."

The winter has been difficult, he said.

"You freeze when it's cold. You light a bunch of candles to stay warm and hope you don't catch a fire," Rosario said.

Before landing in the White Slough neighborhood seven months ago, Walter, 57, said he lived a normal life.

"I had a place in Vallejo," Walter said. "I just didn't take care of business, I guess."

Walter, who declined to give his last name, said the "neighborhood's" population is growing.

Relatively recent arrivals, Tess and her husband have been here about five months, she said.

"We had two houses, and we lost them, and my husband lost the urge to work," said the 50-year-old mother of grown children. "It's lonely. It's been cold." Tess said her husband was a telephone technician before he was laid off.

Tess, who also declined to reveal her last name, said she often goes to friends' homes to bathe and use the restroom. Sometimes, she walks to a restaurant to go.

"It's easier for the guys. They have a much bigger restroom." she said, indicating the bushes. "I've been begging my husband to find us a place or to apply for help."

The White Slough area is privately owned and the "residents" say the owner allows them to be there and provides a cleanup twice a year. The owner of record since 2006, Robert C.M. Chiang of San Francisco, could not be reached for comment.

The homeless know about, and occasionally make use of the Christian Help Center and other resources, they said. But they'd like to see something more done. Rosario suggested some of the city's empty buildings might be opened as shelters. And it's not as though many of the down-and-out aren't willing to contribute what they can.

"A lot of us are capable of working," Walt said. "I bet most homeless people have a talent or a skill that's worth something."

But officials say this would present its own problems.

"There would be security issues, heating issues and possibly crime issues, and we don't have the manpower to patrol these buildings regularly," said Vallejo Police Department spokesman Abel Tenorio. "That isn't a reasonable solution from our perspective."

The White Slough isn't the only area where people camp out. Many of the culverts around town contain homeless campsites that appear to have been abandoned when the creek rose and flooded the banks.

"These creeks rise when it rains, and they wash these encampments away," Darling said. "As an environmentalist, I can't ignore it."

Several such soggy former campsites have been there for years, he said.

"We have periodic cleanups of the waterways, but we don't let the volunteers touch these sites," he said. "There is no way to know what kind of contamination there is."

Vallejo Sanitation & Flood Control District Community Outreach Specialist Jennifer Kaiser said the situation is really more of a garbage issue than a homeless problem.

"We're concerned with the impact the homeless encampments are having on the water quality, but garbage seems to be the biggest problem from what we can see, and the homeless are only one garbage source in Vallejo," Kaiser said.

There area also health issues for the homeless themselves, she said.

"We're not sure it's healthy for the people living there," Kaiser said. "I'm sure they're tempted to wash in that water, and it's raw water -- not treated in any way -- it's not the same quality."

A continuos human presence may also be having an impact on wildlife, she said.

"At what point do we do something about this?" Darling said. "This is a humanitarian crisis."

But, Darling said he clearly sees the conundrum officials face.

"The environmental side of me sees the problems with the homeless residing so near our waterways," he said. "Environmentally, I should not just close my eyes to this reality. But the humanitarian side of me recognizes these folks already face hardships. How do you find solutions without disruption?"

Darling said he thinks exposing the problem is a first step.

"How will homeless issues ever be addressed if people are not made aware of it," he said. "Problems require solutions, and solutions will not be found in the darkness of silence."

Darling said he doesn't believe the city or the community should expect anything to improve unless they are willing to be a part of the change.

"Does anybody want change?" he asked, "Or are we content with the way things are?"

Maybe we've become inured to the problem, choosing not to see it most of the time, Darling said. But many of us aren't born that way, he said.

"I remember when my wife's son was about 7 years old, he used to cry when we went by a homeless person, because he knew they had no where to live and that deeply saddened him," he said.

And it's not as though most of those living on the water would choose that life.

"This is where you go when you got nowhere else to go," White Slough "neighborhood" resident Rosario said.

Just ask Bill Wiley.

E-mail Rachel Raskin-Zrihen at RachelZ@thnewsnet.com or call 553-6824.

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