Housing
What does it take to move one person off the street and into housing? In Richmond, officials estimate it’s something like $75,000 in support services. Last month, the city received that when the City Council voted to accept $8.6 million from the state to move 115 people into housing from encampment hot spots along the Interstate 580 and 80 corridors. The infusion of cash, combined with a commitment of close to $4 million from the city and Contra Costa County,…
“People of Richmond” is a regular series in which reporters pose a question to people in the community. Answers are presented verbatim, though sometimes edited for brevity. Q: Do you agree that Richmond should be building more tiny homes for people now living in encampments? “Yes. We need to look for every possible solution for homeless people, regardless whether it is tiny homes or other buildings as well.” (Alison Moreno, librarian, pictured above) “Yes. I work in youth development and…
Gray skies emptied streams of rain onto an encampment at Castro and Hensley Streets on a cold January night. Untarred paths turned muddy and flooded fast, but the rain didn’t stay on the streets. It seeped into immobile recreational vehicles from all sides, splattering through frames where glass windows once were. While it rained, 43-year-old O’Neill Fernandez was busy lending a hand to those with leaking RVs. Fernandez, who works with the nonprofit Safe Organized Spaces, tried to drape tarpaulins…
Even though she was gainfully employed at a bio-pharma company, had built up some savings and made money on the side as a travel adviser, Astrid Heim had a hard time becoming a Bay Area homeowner. That changed in February, when she found out about interest-free loans through the Black Wealth Builders Fund. And now, at age 36, Heim owns a home in Concord. “This program took a lot of weight off my shoulders because, socially, buying in the Bay…
In a recent survey , San Pablo residents and commuters made one thing abundantly clear: They want more opportunities to own a home in the city. Dyett & Bhatia Urban and Regional Planners, consulting for the city, conducted the survey from December to late February, asking respondents to rank economic and business priorities in San Pablo. Homeownership was the second-highest priority among both residents and non-residents, just behind well-paying jobs. Among solely non-residents who work or go to school in…
Richmond voters are being asked on the November ballot to boost rent control measures so that tenants in controlled units would experience no more than a 3% rent hike. If Measure P is approved, it would keep those tenants from potentially receiving a much higher rent increase that is based on the consumer price index. In Richmond, landlords can raise the rent to 100% of inflation, which is the percentage increase in the consumer price index — currently, 5.2%. Measure…
Kevin Canamore wants answers. He wants his community to get the services it was promised. But more than anything, he just wants to live in a real house. Canamore was living on Rydin Road, one of the largest homeless encampments in Richmond until it was cleared last weekend. According to Contra Costa County’s Homeless Point-In-Time Count for 2022, Richmond is home to 632 unsheltered people. That number is 90% higher than the 2019 figure. While the city is in the…
“People of Richmond” is a regular series in which reporters pose a question to people in the community. Answers are presented verbatim, though sometimes edited for brevity. Q: Should Richmond create an RV parking area for people who live in vehicles? And if so, where? “Absolutely, there should be designated areas for people that have no choice but to live in their vehicles due to housing crises and the unavailability of places for people to rent, and the high cost…
By Saturday, the last 28 people living in vehicles on Rydin Road were relocated by Richmond’s Public Works and Police departments. Non-functioning vehicles and the remaining recreational vehicles were moved to Safe Organized Spaces, under Interstate 580. Residents are temporarily being housed in motels in the surrounding area including in Pinole, Pittsburg, and Brookside Shelter in Richmond. Former Rydin Road residents can work on their vehicles from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily at SOS. “I have been informed by…