When we first got a look at the city’s first safe sleeping site back in June, it wasn’t yet open. Tents were in the process of being set up and things were pretty quiet.
More than five weeks later, the lot is nearing capacity.
Members of the media got a walking tour on Tuesday to see how the place is running. It’s being managed by a nonprofit called Dreams For Change.
More than 130 people are staying in 111 tents, though they have space for 150. No cameras or recording of any kind are allowed on the property now. The video and pictures from inside were provided by the city.
After the brief walking tour, media representatives were able to go to Bennington Memorial Oak Grove, next to the site, to hear from Dreams For Change CEO Teresa Smith, and a past and present client.
“I was on the streets in probably the worst part or not good part of town, the riverbed," Tina Smith said.
She heard about this safe sleeping lot and so she showed up here. But people are only admitted by referral, so she got referred and has now been here a couple of weeks.
“It’s been positive for me. Anything’s better than being on the street out there," Smith said.
There are much more than tents here; two meals a day are served. There are bathrooms, showers, shaded activity areas, services to connect people to permanent housing, pets are welcome and there is round-the-clock security.
“I was in the streets of Clairemont before I got here," Keith Johnson said.
For Johnson, this place and the services it offers was just what he needed.
“I was here for two weeks and I got help and I got help to go downtown to the PATH (People Assisting The Homeless) building," Johnson said.
But the PATH building is just a stopover for Johnson. He’s got his old job back and he’ll soon have his own place. He now volunteers at the safe sleeping site.
“I’m very comfortable with my life now, I don’t do drugs, and I’m just a happy person," he said.
The city is planning on opening another safe sleeping site with around 500 spaces later this year. With the new homeless encampment ban now in effect, those spaces can’t come soon enough for a city that will still need hundreds more.
