San Rafael residents worried about city's lack of communication about homeless shelter
When Jennifer Wallace of San Rafael was looking for a forever home, she thought the decision would come down to walls and windows. Instead, it came down to something harder to measure: the feel of the place.
"Kids are riding bikes, people walking dogs, it's just peaceful and lovely and friendly. It's a little oasis," she said.
But these days, she said, that feeling is less certain.
Just across from her home, the city of San Rafael plans to build a shelter for people who are homeless, about 70 small cabins, using a Housing First approach. The model is built on the idea that for people living on the streets and battling addiction, it's hard to get sober without a place to live.
Wallace and her neighbor said they still have a lot of unanswered questions.
"If there are folks coming in with active drug addiction, where do you get the drugs? Where do drugs get distributed? We're really scared," she said.
Her bigger concern was how the project was introduced. She learned about it, along with everyone else, on the evening news.
"The community had zero notification, let alone input. And as we started working with the city, we said to them, 'Look, if you guys can't even get the rollout right, how do we trust that you can manage something so complex?" she said.
City officials now acknowledge that misstep. Assistant City Manager John Stefanski said they should have engaged the community sooner.
"I think what we probably would have done differently is engage the community at a broader level around the need for increased interim shelter in Marin County. It's a known issue for us, and our unhoused neighbors have nowhere to go," he said.
The new shelter is based on a program already in place — a sanctioned temporary encampment along the Mahon Creek Path, with security, services, and case management, an approach officials say has shown results.
One of those success stories is Amanda, who asked not to reveal her last name. She had been homeless for about eight years when she joined the encampment and has been sober for 19 months.
"There are good days and bad days," she said.
For Amanda, the program has brought safety, but it's still a tent.
"When it rains, also, sometimes the rain seeps through the tents, so that's why if we do get the tiny homes it will be so much better," she said.
But not everyone has access to that kind of support. Leticia, who also asked to use only her first name, lives in an unsanctioned encampment nearby. A few months ago, she lost her job, then her home. One of the biggest struggles at the encampment is rats.
"They come in at night and eat the food," she said.
As she gave KPIX a tour, she pointed at a dead rat right by her feet. Her hope, she said, is simple: a safe place to sleep. Asked if she was afraid living there, she said, "Yes. But I have nowhere safer to go."
For Wallace and her neighbors, the need for housing is not in dispute. The city says the cabins will be built. Whether trust can be rebuilt along with them remains to be seen.
"This is going to be where the rubber meets the road to see if they've heard us and if they're actually incorporating the things we're bringing to them," Wallace said.