Oakland teacher speaks out against homeless sweeps, cites broken promises by city
When Travis Walker isn't teaching, he and his partner provide warm meals and resources at a homeless encampment site in East Oakland.
"It just feels cruel, it just feels cruel," Walker told CBS News Bay Area. "The city hasn't provided this encampment specifically with any sort of services to make it livable out here."
He said he is disappointed by Mayor Barbara Lee's actions in enacting encampment sweeps.
"I voted for Barbara Lee because she said she wasn't going to do this, and it's crushing," Walker said. "Their policy explicitly says they're not going to do sweeps before they've connected people with housing, mental health services and addiction services, and these people haven't been connected to housing."
Operation Dignity in Oakland has been underway for more than a week now, as the city tries to get those unhoused into shelters. However, limited shelter spaces have been problematic in actually getting individuals off the streets.
Heidi Almendarez is one of dozens of unhoused people living along East 12th Street, between 45th and 47th streets.
She said she's been in this encampment site on and off for about eight years.
"Well, we're being moved again, but they're not offering us no housing, no anything. This is like the third move that we had, within a year, I would say," Almendarez told CBS News Bay Area.
Law enforcement officials were in the neighborhood at 9 o'clock sharp in the morning on Monday, promptly enforcing these encampment sweeps.
For Almendarez, she said she unfortunately knows the drill.
"On 66th, they took my car, which was where I was living out of. And right now, they're about to take the trailer that I'm in. I don't know what's going to happen after that, you know?" Almendarez said.
"They provided, I think, a spot for me in downtown Oakland, but I couldn't go because they didn't have my dog's records. They didn't have his shots and that stalled it, and they told me that I couldn't go," she added.
So she came back to this encampment in East Oakland for the time being, but now she is on the go again.
"Shelters are all full, or some of them are closed down. It's hard," she said.
An Oakland city spokesperson sent CBS News Bay Area this statement:
"Operation Dignity has been on the ground for more than a week working with individuals to review all resources that may be available for each individual case. We currently have limited shelter availability, and Operation Dignity is also partnering with nonprofits and the County of Alameda to monitor resources that may become available through the schedule of this operation. This encampment closure operation is posted for a duration of three weeks, and as we work through shelter limitations, we will be prioritizing removal of debris and stolen vehicles, and prioritizing individual closures where we observe life safety issues."
Walker said he wanted to make it clear that the dumping problem goes far beyond the encampment.
"Because they're dumping in the encampment, I think a lot of people assume that it's the unhoused people out here who are making that mess but it's mostly not. They contribute for sure, but a lot of the time it's car bumpers, it's couches, it's those sorts of things they simply don't own," he said.
He adds that sweeps are not the solution, as the unhoused continue to bounce from one area to another.
"These are their homes, and if you're not going to give them somewhere new to live, why are you taking their homes from them?" Walker said.
He adds that many unhoused people say they are also worried for their safety in the shelters.
"Many of the residents are scared to be in the shelters and don't feel safe because they have been attacked, assaulted, and had their personal belongings stolen in shelters, which has been horrible for their mental health and physical safety," he said. "They don't even have enough beds in general."
As for Almendarez, she doesn't know where she's going to go next.
"Other things that they could have taken, not my house. But they took it. I mean, they didn't care. They didn't give me anything, you know?" she said.
But she hopes that she can soon find a home without the fear of being kicked out again.
