A COVID-19 outbreak at a Santa Rosa shelter has led to an increasing number of people living on the streets of the North Bay city.
One resident named Chris lives in a tent on Industrial Dr. in northwest Santa Rosa, where he’s lived for about 2 months ever since he had to move from the spot he lived downtown.
“We have nowhere to go,” Chris said. “I mean what are we going to do out here, you know what I mean? Everywhere we go, they keep kicking us out.”
He said, recently, living in the nearby shelter has not been an option.
“Well the shelters, they’re full,” Chris said. “And Sam Jones here in Santa Rosa, they’ve got COVID riddled throughout that shelter.”
The Samuel L. Jones Hall was closed after an outbreak. At least 12 shelter residents tested positive for COVID-19, but after repeated tests, the shelter again opened its doors to new residents on Friday, and said there hasn’t been a positive test since Jan. 8.
Meanwhile, the camp on Industrial Dr. has grown, and Chris said nearly 60 people live there now, and that the city cannot legally move them without any open shelter capacity.
“Everybody here is like family, pretty much,” Chris said. “We all know each other, we’ve all lived this life together.”
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