Life in Chinatown after sweeps
Hundreds of homeless people in Salinas are trying to adapt to life after a major Chinatown sweep. Chinatown used to be the largest homeless encampment in the city, but on Saturday parts of it looked like a ghost town.
“A lot of these people here are suffering and some of us are going to die, some of us are going to die,” said Freddy Valdez, a former Chinatown resident.
Bridge Street was empty Saturday, but some people are still holding their ground on nearby streets.
In early March, people living in Chinatown were given a 15 day notice that they needed to leave or face the consequences.
“We respect what needs to be done, but we hope that in the future they can build some sort of facility here,” said Valdez.
The new view is a big difference from earlier this week when hundreds still called Chinatown home.
“People are upset and they are worried about where they are going to go and we have the same concerns,” said Ken Cusson, the executive director of the Victory Mission Shelter.
The ordinance reads that people can set up camp at Chinatown overnight, but by 6 a.m. they have to be packed up and gone.
“That is where the trouble lies. You are caught between the desire to follow the law and your need to survivor,” said Cusson.
There have been reports that guards have been telling homeless people that they cannot set up camp even during the permitted hours.
“I actually went up to the security guards and asked them because I just didn’t want to just pop up anywhere and they said you can’t camp out here,” said former Chinatown resident Mark Anthony.
The cleanup comes after police and city leaders said Chinatown was a hotbed for crime, but many believe sending the homeless away is not the best solution.
“It is going to be really difficult for all these people to get to the services they need…Dorothy’s kitchen, the learning center, Victory Mission. How are they going to get here?” said Cusson.
Chinatown may be starting to get cleaned up, but according to Cusson, there still seems to be more questions than answers.
“The difficulty is what do they do with their tents when they take them down at 6 a.m.,” said Cusson. “Where do they go? What do they do?” added Cusson.
The city will continue to clear out Chinatown over the next 30 days.
