SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Whether it's two weeks or two years, homelessness is never easy.
"I've only been out on the streets for about less than 2 weeks,” Grace Roche, who is newly homeless, said. "It is hard."
Grace is staying in a small tent overlooking the J Street offramp of I-5 North near Downtown San Diego.
She told ABC 10News she lived on the streets of downtown San Diego before relocating there.
"I could go to sleep for two, three hours and get up and they're already waking me up first thing in the morning to move,” Roche said. "And then they give me a 24 notice to vacate. It's just like, 'Whoa!'"
Stories like Grace's are playing out across the state.
ABC 10News has covered the impact of encampment bans in different parts of San Diego County as they’ve each on into effect.
"The policies being created, our politicians feel a lot of pressure to do something,” Levi Giafaglione, a current advocate for the homeless, said.
Giafaglione told ABC 10News he spent six years on the street before becoming housed for the past decade.
"We're seeing a lot more people go into the highways, the canyons, right? The places where they won't be disrupted by enforcement,” Giafaglione said.
In July 2024, Governor Newsom signed an executive order allowing state agencies to clear encampments on state property like Cal Trans right of way.
"When we talk about 'We can't have dangerous encampments,' we can't keep forcing people into more dangerous situations without having the actual solution at the end,” Giafaglione said.
ABC 10News received a statement from Cal Trans about how the encampment removal efforts have been going since the 2024 executive order and how the Governor’s announcement will impact the prevention of encampments from popping back up on the local highways.
The agency sent ABC 10News the following statement:
“Caltrans is responsible for protecting and maintaining the state’s highway network. Caltrans assesses potential safety and infrastructure threats on the state right of way, which can include homeless encampments. Except in circumstances presenting an imminent threat to life or infrastructure, Caltrans provides a minimum of 48 hours’ notice before removing an encampment to provide individuals at these sites time to collect their belongings before cleaning begins and notifies local nonprofits and local government agencies that are funded, trained and equipped to help individuals experiencing homelessness. These local entities offer services and help these individuals find alternative placement in emergency shelters, transitional housing, or permanent housing. In 2024 alone, Caltrans spent $1.4 million, removed 943 encampments, and collected more than 4,600 cubic yards of debris on state right of way within San Diego city limits and with the city’s partnership. Under state law, providing shelter and housing assistance to homeless individuals – including those residing on a state right-of-way within a city’s or county’s boundaries – is the responsibility of local government.”
Speaking directly to the billions of dollars in funding Newsom announced, Giafaglione said that while the state should be helping people with substance abuse and mental health issues, it should be the only focus of funding from the state.
“It’s great to be able to take care of the people that have the substance abuse, who have the trauma, who have the mental health needs,” Giafaglione said. “But at the same time, we shouldn’t be letting people get more and more traumatized just so, that they fit into the box of who we have the funding to help right now.”
