Alameda County Fairgrounds racetrack closure forces hundreds to find new homes
Hundreds of people who are living at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton have to find a new place to live and work, after the fairgrounds decided to end its horse racing operations.
The residents have until Friday to pick up and leave. On Thursday, they rallied with homeless advocates, asking the county to provide them with resources to help them afford a new place to live.
Vicky and her husband Nicholas are in a panic. This week, the racetrack at the fairgrounds shut down, putting Nicholas out of a job and leaving both he and Vicky without a home.
"We don't know what to do. What we need is help and support," Vicky told CBS News Bay Area through an interpreter.
The two had been living here in an RV park on the fairgrounds. Vicky said it wasn't anything fancy but they made it home.
"We even made a homemade swing. We even bought a little BBQ for the families," Vicky said.
The two say dozens of families lived here, most of them stable workers like Nicholas.
"I was a groomer for the horses," said Nicholas through an interpreter.
But this week they say everyone's lives were upended.
After the track announced its closure, the couple says every family was told they would have to either accept a huge rent increase or leave the RV park immediately.
"Some people have been moving back home. There are some people that are not telling where they're going," said Vicky.
In an attempt to stop the rent increase and get families like Vicky's support, local homeless advocates hosted an emergency press conference at the fairgrounds Thursday.
"This is a very catastrophic situation. Some are so scared that they're just leaving their trailers and leaving because they don't know what to do because no one has told them," said advocate Andrea Henson.
These advocates say they are in the process of gathering information and are not ruling out a lawsuit.
Vicky and Nicholas say all they want is to be able to stay in their home and find new work.
"They told us we were going to be here for three to five years and this is where we are now. You know my husband went through the whole COVID, was sick. He's doing what he can," Vicki said.
