Few of us who crawl comfortably into bed each night for a restful sleep think about those who have no secure home to call their own, and for whom their car remains their only place of refuge. The uncertainties of life are many, and being homeless is often the result of just poor luck; high rents, low-paying jobs, a medical expense – for those with no financial cushion such events can mean the difference between a safe home and the street.
Now that Sonoma County housing has become so expensive due to the lack of construction of affordable housing and the pressures placed by vacation rental conversions by speculators, rising rents are literally forcing people to live out of their cars, if they own one. There’s lots of talk about “tiny homes,” but when it comes to living in a small space, a car takes the prize. As prizes go, it’s pretty poor.
Adding insult to injury, many homeless people living out of their cars cannot find a safe or legal to park overnight, let alone a parking spot near an open, public restroom. Many municipalities, including the City of Sonoma, do not allow overnight “camping” in cars, and those who risk it may find themselves rousted and told to move on or risk arrest. Though free parking lots are often empty, they too have have been placed “off limits” for overnight parking.
Fear of crime, drugs, vandalism, littering and the use of outdoors as a toilet are all cited as reasons for prohibiting sleeping in cars. Undoubtedly, all this happens from time to time in the absence of any proactive effort to provide a safe and legal place to park and sleep. Recently, and compassionately, local governments have been more attendant to this reality by looking at the creation of legal, overnight parking options for homeless living in cars. The County of Sonoma is exploring using land adjacent to its county administration buildings, and other cities are also trying to find suitable overnight parking locations.
Obviously, the best locations are those well-lighted and adjacent to restrooms, which makes public building parking lots the most viable option. Here in the City of Sonoma, a logical location is the parking lot next to the Police Station/Community meeting room, which also happens to be the location of The Haven, an legally permitted homeless shelter. This lot is heavily used, and often late into the evening, but with proper planning it could work.
Across the street is the Veteran’s Building, a county-owned facility with restrooms and a very large parking lot. It too could provide space for up to one-dozen cars each night, and with a proper plan, the restrooms could be left open. Merely one-hundred feet from the Police station, should problems arise they can be addressed promptly. There is even space behind Sonoma City Hall, a short walk away from public restrooms. Might not our compassion extend to some careful and monitored experimentation?
We suggest that the fears people have about the homeless will all come true if as a society we do not find ways to offer this vulnerable population a chance to get back on their feet. If we abandon them to lives of desperation, they will indeed become desperate and the rest of us will pay the price.
— Sun Editorial Board
As a homeless full time college student working part time and unable to find a place in Sonoma that I can afford I am forced look for a second part time job on top of all my schooling. And I’m having to live out of my car as well. Having a safe parking program is the least the rich snobby people of Sonoma could allow.