The day before Kelly Wayne Boyer was forced to move from the sidewalk he’d been camping on near Tractor Supply, he sat outside his tent playing an unplugged electric guitar.
Boyer had been displaced by the city of Chico before, during previous anti-camping enforcements. At that time, he was directed by city staff to stay at the Torres Community Shelter, which he went to. But shortly after, he felt the shelter wasn’t a good fit for him. He had trouble sleeping in the group dorms.
“I'm a survivor from the Camp Fire. Ever since the fire, if there's people moving around my brain won't shut off,” Boyer said. “I can fall asleep but I don’t get REM sleep. I don’t dream. And pretty soon I start hallucinating.”
Boyer returned to living on the streets instead. He set up camp on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway near the city’s Genesis Pallet shelter site because he hoped being close to it would give him a better chance of getting directed to one of the site's individual small shelters.
But when he was assessed by city staff ahead of this sweep, Boyer said he was again referred to the group dorms in the Torres Shelter. He’s said he’s not sure where he’ll stay next.
Nearby the Torres Shelter, another group of people had also been notified they’d be moved.
Mitchell Arden Gray and his mother were preparing to leave ahead of the sweep scheduled the next morning. While the Torres Shelter had spaces available, Gray said his mother’s mobility restrictions mean the bunk beds there aren’t a good fit.
“There are beds available at the Torres, but there are no bottom bunks available for my mom. So we’ll both still be out here,” Gray said. “My mom has to use her walker to get around, so she can’t really get into a top bunk.”
Gray said he and his mom are so desperate to find support that he wants to be arrested just to have a place to sleep and food to eat.
In addition to the camps outside the Torres and Pallet shelters, the city also cleared encampments along the bike path. In total, 34 people were forced to move last week.
This week, the city announced three more encampments will be cleared in the coming weeks along the bike path, which is expected to affect 11 people.
