Weeks after construction crews started clearing up tents and shelters along the Pajaro River levee, the homelessness outreach team tasked with helping some levee residents find alternative shelter is facing challenges in its efforts to reconnect with many of the displaced residents.
Many of the unhoused residents have either moved up east on the levee toward the coast or the opposite direction toward Salsipuedes Creek, said Aimee Ramirez, operations manager for the 34-unit “tiny village” homeless housing project in Watsonville.
Karla Escamilla, housing navigator for Watsonville-based Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County, has been working alongside the nonprofit’s two case managers to help residents get into temporary housing, such as hotels, and into programs for mental health or substance-abuse issues. She said it’s been harder to reconnect with clients because they’ve moved into areas that are harder and less safe to access…