The following statement regarding “Camp Hope” is from the City of Martinez:
Over the past week, upon learning of the Homeless Action Coalition’s imminent plans to discontinue services at Camp Hope (an encampment of unhoused individuals located at the outdoor amphitheater at the City’s Waterfront), the City of Martinez initiated a response to address the anticipated impacts of this departure.
The Homeless Action Coalition is a local nonprofit founded by longtime Martinez resident Noralea Gipner who opened the site at the start of the pandemic to help the unhoused community shelter in place and receive COVID-19 testing and vaccinations. Over time, the Coalition also provided basic life necessities to persons at the camp, including food, clothing, laundry services and case management.
The Coalition will no longer be providing these services.
With the abrupt announcement, the City has stepped in to help transition unhoused individuals from the site to shelter, housing or treatment centers.
The City anticipates posting a notice at the site announcing an impending clean-up date for later on in the month. Everyone living at the camp has been offered shelter or housing, which three individuals have accepted thus far.
The Martinez City Manager’s Office, Police Department, Public Works Department, and other City staff, along with Contra Costa County and non-profit representatives, are working to address several key priorities, including:
On November 2nd, a team began an onsite assessment of Camp Hope to determine how to support those remaining and identify available shelter or housing.
On a daily basis, drug and alcohol addiction service providers, along with mental health services, will be at the site to work with those remaining at the camp.
A private security service with experience working with homeless encampments is being coordinated to supervise the encampment during evening hours.
Fire and hazardous materials mitigation will be carefully considered in anticipation of clean-up of the site.
The City is also tracking the expiration of local, County and State emergency health orders, which initially provided some flexibility for Camp Hope to exist.
The City’s overarching goal is to facilitate the transitioning of persons remaining at the camp to housing or treatment, ensuring they can receive the proper care and services they need, all while working to return the site back to a city recreational amenity.
Along with recognizing the Homeless Action Coalition for their dedicated community service over the last two and a half years at Camp Hope, the City wants to recognize numerous nonprofits and partners who are assisting in the clean-up effort. These groups include Contra Costa County; Coordinated Outreach, Referral, and Engagement (CORE); Support 4Recovery; Loaves and Fishes; RESTORE; and Bibett, among others.
23 comments
First, I’d liked to commend the City of Martinez for “stepping up and in” at this time to help transition unhoused individuals from the site to shelter, housing or treatment centers.
Especially thank Noralea Gipner who opened the site at the start of the pandemic. COVID forced the hands so-to-speak and she took action. Thank you.
I personally have dealt with this issue with City, County and State Government for many years and I’ve been in the “trenches” on this issue and this is the first time I’ve seen the non-profits and Cities really collaborate for results on homelessness to this degree. Congratulations City of Martinez and all affiliated with this effort and Resolution known as “Camp Hope.”
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The pandemic is over.
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Services were offered to the homeless and few took them up.
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It’s time to end the enabling and for the homeless and addicted to move on.
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Good job to the Mayor and Martinez City Council.
Exit, I agree few do take advantage of them. That may never change. Yes good Job again City of Martinez.
If you also really want to given an “attaboy” give it to Concord. The City that for years the mentally ill and homeless have been the “dump all” for.
I read at least three people on the payroll to run this camp. The Army has a system call “Camp Tax” where each unit contributes people on a rotating schedule to supply manpower to the camp. Point is there is an opportunity cost to these homeless camps. For example the camp could run itself and those three people providing services could put on hard hats to fix the roads
Beware!!! The Fuhrer Newsom ( the WEF puppet) might try to withhold money from Martinez for doing the right thing.
“Unhoused individuals”…..What????
BTW, when is City Hall going to reopen?
Mayoral Candidates shouldn’t need to mention “I’m going to reopen City Hall” in their campaigns – that’s ridiculous.
Sad only 3 people out of how many accepted services. Hope the 3 are successful and make it!
We should back the ones that are willing to help themselves and take the first step.
The rest, how many?… Like others have mentioned, should not be enabled nor allowed to remain. Move on and out.
All Noralea Gipner did was create a “Hamsterdam” of “The Wire” fame. A place where drug addicts can congregate and buy and use drugs.
Did MPD keep the drug dealers out and make arrests or was this a “safe space” for both dealers and users?
The best solution for the homeless is to kick them the hell out of your city. Enablers like Noralea Gipner are part of the problem.
It’s quite obvious the political divide is rampant in a more visual forum on our new site, which I really enjoy. Passive aggressive thumbs up or thumbs down. I can take the heat, believe me it’s actually quite expected on this forum because it’s free speech without ID’s/somewhat. I’m not offended it I don’t make the cut of more thumbs up than the other guy, but it just goes to show the onesideness view and get’s their jolly’s out of one up.
Bella,
Get over yourself. Even if I used my “real” name here = I would still express the same displeasure with the homeless enablement camp.
The problem is: Your kind would try to call my employer and get me canceled or protest or firebomb my house. Such tolerance from those who only want Free speech as long as it agrees with them.
Bella
You are getting so many thumbs down because you are enabling a known problem in our community, and we the people do not want to continue with what we consider nonsense.
It is not a political thing for me, it is an enabling attitude and everyone gets a trophy mentality. I grew up where you earned your keep. No one gave me free stuff. I paid my own way threw college while paying rent, bills etc. I was late on a few, screwed my credit over, and still no one helped me. I am not bitter as those events in my life made me appreciate the work. Yes, I despise free loaders and anyone who enables that behavior. I would gladly help those who wanted help by providing them a opportunity to work – I would not support making a safe spot where drugs, assault and other crimes are rampant and public.
It seems to me…. if you have a dollar, you might be able to do a little something with it. If you spread that dollar out into too many jars of dimes…. you can’t do anything but beg for another dime for this jar or that jar…… Foundation This and Association That, (AKA supposedly non profit programs that always have money for dinners, awards, travel to meet with like-kind AKAs, etc) are not getting the job done… not even a dollars’ worth.
RETHINK goody-goody. And the answer is NOT another ANAGRAM Coalition made up of friends, bored housewives and political donors.
For all the niceties Noralea Gipner may have managed to provide…. did ANY Single “unhoused” person become “housed” because of those efforts?
Time for a wide stiff broom… and time for vagrancy and drug laws to be followed.
Call me pissed off…and tired of putting up with it.
Over time, the coalition made these people more and more dependent by enabling them incredibly.
What results? All that happened was that druggies were enabled and the city footed the bill. Yeah. So great.
I did not know about this place and looked up the Homeless Action Gipner site. There is a good video. She really seems to care and to try but my impression is that she was taking on the role of Mommy to this group, providing food, shelter, clothes, and getting them medical and other care. In my uneducated opinion, the homeless need some tough love and not a mommy. It’s been interesting reading the comments.
Why is Loaves and Fishes going to be recognized? Has anybody from the City 9f Martinez even eaten its food? I highly doubt it. Because if they did, they’d not only be appalled, they’d throw the meal out.
F&L ought to be shut down for feeding people what amounts to food even pigs wouldn’t eat. I have had F&L food many times, and if it isn’t overcooked, it’s tasteless. Worse, it’s difficult to figure out what the ingredients are. If it’s rice, it’s so overcooked, it’s like mush. If it’s pasta, it’s like mush too. And there’s either no sauce, too many overcooked tiny bits of vegetables, and very little salt, pepper, or spice. Even found a bug once in the vegetable soup. If tuna or some kind of meat is in the food, it’s not findable. I bet an eight-year-old with help from mom could offer better tasting and cooked food than what L&F provides the poor. I have had L&F food in Martinez, Pittsburg, Concord, and Walnut Creek. And it’s always bad. During a celebration of life for homeless people who had died on the street, the alleged spaghetti with sauce tasted sour and the pasta mushy.
I once got to see the kitchen where the food is prepared and cooked. It’s cooked early in the a.m. and loaded into restaurant speed trays. So the heat from one tray continues to heat the tray above it until all the food in the trays are overcooked. And the ingredients tend to be old veggies, barely cleaned or pared of dirt and skin, and hardly any meat or tuna. F&L ought to pay people to eat their awful food.
Here’s a novel idea. Don’t knock FREE food given to people who don’t even care enough to better themselves.
Plenty of people, including myself, were homeless and ate free food because we had no money and food stamps at six bucks a day does not put much food in our bellies. So, Oh, Please, why don’t you sample Loaves & Fishes food and then return here to give your opinion of it? You can try the kitchen on Ferry at Green in Martinez (across from the Mtz Sr Ctr) or Trinity Center on Trinity Ave. in Walnut Creek (but not Mondays, as St. Matthews Lutheran Church provides lunch).
L&F food is so bad, I bet you a dollar to a donut it’d make you ashamed you ever defended it simply because it’s free.
No. Someone is paying for it and it is not you. I buy my own food, so I can go wherever I want. If you are getting something at no cost to you, the decent thing is to be GRATEFUL anyone wants to help and say thank you. Or else buy your own food. The entitlement of people is ruining what charitable giving is still out there. No one is grateful and they want more, better. I don’t want to give to anyone anymore because it is never good enough. Well, soooorrrry for not giving people luxury food. I believed the thought was to save a LIFE, to save someone from STARVING to death. I didn’t realize that people in such “dire straits” could afford to be so picky. I will defend it all day long because THEY are giving people something that those people DIDN’T have. If folks don’t like what is given, then go better yourself so you don’t need it. I’m done with charity. Honestly, picking on a charity like this is offensive and icky.
Maybe you should volunteer at L&F. Perhaps you can improve the free food you don’t like.
@BEANZY….There’s an old saying that I learned “way back when”….Beggers can’t be choosers…. it’s served me well through my life. I worked for the Food Bank 25+ years ago for a short time, people receiving food then were appreciative for whatever they got, they would even say “thank you”, how times have changed.
Most people in need (including the homeless) ARE appreciative. There will always be ungrateful naysayers, but I think its misery loves company more than anything. Very sad.
Yes Loaves and fishes food is not great. Beats an empty stomach tho. Yes the homeless camp at the marina is nothing more than a group of ppl who all like to get high, get drunk and dick around all day doing whatever. The woman who ran it just made it nicer and easier for them to do that. All the while she was lining her pockets. Downtown Martinez would look infinitely better if the mayor would see to having the filthy sidewalks pressure cleaned and the business owners would be mindful of their store fronts. Like keeping their signage fresh, their windows and sidewalks clean. Homeless ppl are not going to disappear but making it easy for them to continue their free loading, drug and alcohol fueled lifestyles certainly doesn’t help. If you want your kids to keep their rooms clean, better make sure you set an example.
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