The city of Chico has applied for $2.6 million in grant funding to help unhoused residents. This comes after Redding and Oroville were selected during a previous round of funding. The city of Chico also applied then but was denied due to not prioritizing permanent housing.
The Encampment Resolution Funds (ERF) the city is again seeking are from the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH). The program is designed to help communities transition unhoused residents from encampments to temporary shelters, and eventually to permanent housing. Applicants must identify a specific encampment in their community to focus on.
NSPR obtained the city’s previous application, assessment and denial, and current application.
Chico’s previous plan: Build another Pallet shelter site
The city’s previous application said demand to stay at the city-partnered Genesis site is high, but its lack of available beds is a barrier. The site is a collection of single-room structures designed by the company Pallet. The city’s proposal focused on building a new set of temporary shelters like those at Genesis. Forty unhoused residents camping at Depot Park were targeted for the proposed site. At the time, Depot Park was one of the largest encampments in Chico, though it has since been cleared by the city.
Additionally, the proposal targeted 10 other unhoused residents at Depot Park who the city expected would move into transitional or permanent housing through community partnerships with groups like the Chico Housing Action Team and True North Housing Alliance.
In order to build the new site and provide services there, the city requested nearly $1.5 million. The city applied in early 2023 with a proposed timeline that the new shelter site would open by the end of July.
The proposal expected everyone camping at Depot Park would be moved out and into temporary or permanent housing by the end of 2023.
Proposal rejected: Lack of commitment to permanent housing
Chico’s proposal was evaluated by three panelists, each grading seven different criteria. The city’s proposal failed to meet 75% of the 21 total assessment areas.
The panelists identified a lack of commitment to permanent housing in the plan. Instead, they said the focus on building another interim shelter site would only increase the capacity of short-term housing in Chico and wouldn’t do enough to help unhoused residents get into and maintain long-term housing.
One panelist noted the city’s goal of getting 10 of the 50 residents into permanent housing “does not suggest an adequate priority for permanent housing.” Additionally, the plan did not factor in substance use or addiction.
The panelists also questioned the city’s proposed timeline, noting the plan’s failure to outline where the new temporary shelters would be built and how the property would be acquired and prepared in time.
After the denial: Depot Park cleared
In August 2023, the city of Chico removed the encampment at Depot Park with two separate enforcement actions. None of the campers who spoke with NSPR had been directed to Genesis and had instead been told by city staff to stay at the congregate Torres Community Shelter. Those interviewed by NSPR said they refused to go to the Torres Shelter. Some said they had traumatic experiences there in the past, while others said policies like a strict curfew and a lack of storage space kept them from staying at the shelter. The Torres Shelter has told NSPR it's working to make its services more accessible.
There are rarely many openings at Genesis. Currently, 13 of the 177 units are available, however numbers often are in the single digits. The city has not announced any plans to expand capacity at Genesis, or to build any alternative temporary shelter sites.
Chico’s new plan: Rental vouchers
In January, the city applied for more than $2.5 million from the next round of ERF funding, this time with a reworked proposal.
The new plan doesn’t target a single encampment, but instead “seven small, noncontiguous encampments” around Chico, mainly along major roadways like Highway 99 and Cohasset Road. The proposal identified 57 people currently living in camps in those areas who will be served, though Jennifer Macarthy, Chico’s deputy city manager, said the funding could help shelter more people.
Also, rather than funding another temporary shelter site, the city hopes to use the funds to provide rental vouchers for an affordable housing project being developed in Chico. The city plans to have vouchers for 22 units in that complex, with funding for an additional 10 rental subsidies for people who want to live somewhere else. The proposal estimates another 30 people are expected to stay at Genesis over the course of the grant — which runs through the end of 2025.
Macarthy said she doesn’t know when to expect a response from Cal ICH, but that the city is ready to put the funds to use as soon as possible if it is selected.
“The applications are accepted on a rolling basis. So we were very quick to get in at the beginning of that process,” Macarthy said. “[Applications] will be accepted through the end of June, or until funding runs out. We are hoping that they will consider us early, and that we are successful.”
