CHICO, Calif. – Chico’s Pallet Shelter for the homeless opened more than two weeks ago, and so far about 75% of the units remain empty.
Outreach and engagement teams were out at Downtown Chico, Lower Bidwell Park and Annie’s Glen on Tuesday talking with homeless about their options to move into either the Pallet Shelter or Torres Shelter.
“It’s huge for a lot of people, some of them are in tears,” one homeless woman who did not want to be identified said.
It was an emotional day for the 50 homeless people who got the 7-day notice on Monday that they need to move out of the parks.
“The next move is hopefully getting into the pallets,” the homeless woman said. “You know somewhere where you can lay your head and have a safe place to put your things and lock it up.”
As of Tuesday morning, 48 people were living at the Pallet Shelter site, meaning there is room for around 130 more people.
“We’re looking for it to hopefully increase over the next month or two as we go through the enforcement with the city,” Chico Mayor Andrew Coolidge said.
“It’s about time, everyone’s tired of being outside,” the homeless woman told Action News Now.
Outreach and engagement needs to assess people out in the field before they can move into the Pallet Shelter site. That is what they were out doing today.
“The basis and reasoning behind this is not only to get people to healthy solutions and push forward, but we also want to get our parks and waterways clean,” Mayor Coolidge said.
Butte County Behavioral Health is out at the site twice a day working with the homeless.
Director of Behavioral Health for Butte County Scott Kennelly said most homeless people that want services are already getting it, so they are not seeing many new clients at the Pallet Shelter yet.
“It’s not surprising unless you can compel someone into some kind of treatment, they are not going to go into it unless they volunteer,” Kennelly said. “Guests are requesting when we talk to them, bus passes, cigarettes, food, transportation, Wi-Fi and help with day to day chores or responsibilities.”
Butte County’s Department of Employment Services told Action News Now their staff is out at the site weekly to help the homeless find work.
“While we are new into our programming at the Pallet Shelter site, we are offering a variety of social service assistance as well as housing navigation support,” Department of Employment Services director Shelby Boston said.
On Tuesday, outreach and engagement were going tent to tent and in some cases helping people with their belongings and transporting them to the Pallet Shelter.
The homeless woman who did not want to identified was one of the people who got the keys to her spot at the site today.
She told Action News Now the space was even bigger than she could have imagined. She also said there were lots of familiar faces since most of the people used to be staying out in the same parks she was living in.
“It’s an opportunity to get your feet in the door, get a job, get on your feet and be successful,” the homeless woman told Action News Now.
