There are 5,700 people experiencing homeless on any given night - with over 11,000 homeless on an annual basis. The unsheltered homeless population increased from 56% in 2017 to 70% in 2019 There are 480 homeless people sleeping in their cars or RV's- 33 are families
The County Park Rangers in 2018 issued 2,058 camping citations and closed 5,639 camps. This failed "Whack A Mole" Strategy creates significant housing and employment barriers for people experiencing homelessness
Your Mom or Dad? Your sister or brother? Your son or daughter? Your next door neighbor?
There are 5,700 people experiencing homeless on any given night - with over 11,000 homeless on an annual basis. The unsheltered homeless population increased from 56% in 2017 to 70% in 2019 There are 480 homeless people sleeping in their cars or RV's- 33 are families
FIRES ON THE AMERCIAN RIVER PARKWAY AND OUR UNHOUSED NEIGHBORS: SRCEH ANALYSIS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The number of fires on the American River Parkway [ARP] has increased from an average of 42 from 2014 – 2019 to 62 in 2020.
However, despite the number of fires increasing to 62 in 2020, the number of misdemeanor citations went down from 75 in 2019 to 40 in 2020, while the number of arson arrests remained at 1 in 2019 & 2020.
SRCEH then looked at the percentage of infraction and misdemeanor citations written by the Park Rangers in Fall and Winter between 2017 – May 2021 and found that 94% of the infractions and 82% of the misdemeanor fire citations were issued by the Park Rangers during Fall and Winter [January 2017 – March 2021].
Clearly, our unhoused neighbors are simply lighting fires to stay warm during the fall and winter months.
SRCEH proposes a number of fire safety recommendations including recommendations to keep warm and cook with solar panels.
If you are homeless, please call 211 for help.
Find food, shelter, housing, transportation, income [CalWORKs, G.R. SSI], legal and health care resources in the our publication, Peoples Guide to Health, Welfare & Other Services
NOTE: Given the lack of funding, we were not able to create a 2020 edition - but the resources in the Guide - while there are a few changes - should still help you find the resources you need
