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CHICO — On the eve of the return of illegal homeless camp removal and cleanup efforts, residents of the camps inside Humboldt Park and Little Chico Creek Greenway were anticipating where they will go during the upcoming days.

Chico announced on Oct. 6 that it will resume its enforcement of anti-camping ordinances starting today. The return comes after a legal dispute between Chico and Legal Services of Northern California prompted the city to temporarily halt enforcement.

Dolores Miller, a resident of Humboldt Park, says she uses her walker every day to exercise her hip and legs from getting worse. Having failed to find a living situation with her children, she hopes that the Outreach and Engagement Team will recommend her to a Pallet shelter.

“I hate it here,” said Miller. “I have to say it. I had someone come into my tent one night when I wasn’t in there, and I couldn’t get rid of them all night long. I couldn’t make him leave. I don’t know what else to do; it’s really hard here, and my hip isn’t getting better. It’s hard to walk everyday and do as much as I can on my own, but there’s some things that I can’t do anymore.”

Miller said if she does not receive eligibility for either the Pallet shelter or the Torres Shelter, she will not know where to go.

“I don’t even know who I could get to help me move,” said Miller. “I pray tomorrow they say I can go to the Pallet shelter. I can’t do much more.”

Richard Muenzer is a craftsman by trade, who says that despite telling himself that he would never be homeless, eventually he became homeless after having the financial carpet pulled from underneath his feet multiple times.

Muenzer was denied a shelter because he was unable to compromise leaving his large assortment of tools — a collection that cannot fit inside a Pallet shelter. He expects to move to a new spot and repeat the process when necessary.

“Someone once told me that I have the homeless mentality,” said Muenzer. “That’s derogatory — how do you explain that? I’m not homeless, period. I have a hometown — called San Francisco. I have a home state — California. I have a home state — California. I am not homeless; I am bankrupt. This is not about addiction. Being an addict will not help me.”

Muenzer said that the term “homelessness” has turned into a derogatory word.

“We have lost our manufacturing base in this town, we’ve lost good-paying, livable wages in this town,” said Muenzer. “I already know that you’re one paycheck or one-and-a-half paychecks away from being in the same place that I am. Your rent is too high, groceries are too high, fuel is too high and it just goes on and on and on.”

Alexander Tetreault, who has resided in Chico since the age of two, plans to move himself and his belongings into a corner of Chico that has not seen enforcement. Having already attempted to reach out to shelters for housing, the theft of his phone has made the process harder for him.

“It’s hard to get by with the resources that we have alone,” said Tetreault. “And even, with what we have, it’s hard to muster enough. The amount of homelessness in general is the result of poor distribution of wealth and mental health care support,” said Tetreault.

Chico City Manager Mark Sorensen said that accommodations are made for homeless people depending on circumstances.

“The outreach and engagement team are trained to assess each individual situation and research potential compatibility problems and work to find solutions,” said Sorensen.

As of Tuesday, Oct. 11, the Jesus Center, located at 2255 Fair St. had one women’s shelter bed open and two men’s shelter beds open. At the Torres Shelter, located at 101 Silver Dollar Way, 36 beds are open. The Pallet Shelter, located at 2280 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway has 60 pallet shelters available.

Per the Warren v. Chico settlement agreement, Chico provides an alternative camping site for people who are not eligible for a referral to the Torres Shelter or Pallet shelter. Located at Eaton Road and Cohasset Road, the alternative site includes portable toilets and dumpsters that are emptied twice per week. The alternative site is not available for people living in their RVs or vehicles.

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