Community Members Re-establish Ross Camp

One woman who was moving her possessions over to the camp at about noon was communicating to people who were passing by on the San Lorenzo Riverway, and encouraging them to join her.

"It's the only safe place to sleep," she told one person.

The woman explained that she was a resident of the Ross Camp during it's first run in the spring, and that it was Park Rangers in the City of Santa Cruz who originally directed her to go there after they found her camping in another part of the City.

"The Rangers sent me out here, then they kicked me out of here," she said, referring to the forced eviction of the camp in May.

She also told one passerby that she was a close friend of Deseire Quintero, the woman who was killed on October 28 by a falling tree as she was visiting a homeless friend, who was survival camping in Pogonip.

Quintero was a plaintiff in the lawsuit launched by homeless residents to keep the Ross Camp open. Their legal efforts delayed the closing of the camp, but eventually Quintero and the others were forced out by the City's eviction.

Since Quintero's passing, her friends in the activist community have been using the phrase "The City Lied, People Died" in their efforts. As a justification to close the first run of the Ross Camp, the City claimed it had offered residents alternate locations to live, and offered them motel vouchers, which homeless advocates say was not true.


For more information about the re-establishment of the Ross Camp, see:

Santa Cruz County Homeless Advocates/Santa Cruz California Homeless Union
https://www.facebook.com/groups/SantaCruzCountyHomelessAdvocates/

Santa Cruz Food Not Bombs
https://www.facebook.com/groups/SantaCruzFoodNotBombs/


All photos copyright 2019 by Alex Darocy. Re-use is by permission only.