Latest news with #Reclaimers
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Elderly man builds tree house to protest eviction from state-owned home
Before the sun rose Tuesday, Benito Flores fortified the front door of his one-bedroom duplex on a narrow street in El Sereno. Flores, a 70-year-old retired welder, had illegally seized a home five years ago after its owner, the California Department of Transportation, had left it vacant. He'd been allowed to stay for a few months, then was directed to this nearby home owned by the agency, but now it was time to go. Later in the morning, deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department were scheduled to lock him out. Flores clearly had other plans. Over months, he'd sawed wooden two-by-fours to use as a brace between the front door and an interior wall to make it harder to breach. He bolted shut the metal screen door. Once Flores was satisfied he'd secured the entrance Tuesday, he retreated to a wooden structure he built 28 feet high in an ash tree in the backyard. Read more: 'I'm going to resist': Protesters who seized state-owned homes five years ago prepare for eviction battle If the police wanted him to leave, they'd have to come get him in his tree house. 'I plan to resist as long as I can,' Flores said. The homemade structure, 6 feet tall and 3 feet wide, represents the last stand for Flores and a larger protest that captured national attention in March 2020. Flores and a dozen others occupied empty homes owned by Caltrans, acquired by the hundreds a half-century ago for a freeway expansion that never happened. They said they wanted to call attention to the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles. The issue, Flores said, remains no less urgent today. Political leaders, he argued, have failed to provide housing for all who need it. 'They don't care about the people,' Flores said. 'Who is supposed to give permanent housing to elders, disabled and families with children? It is the city and the state. And they are evicting me.' For the public agencies involved, the resistance represents an intransigence that belies the assistance and leniency they've offered to Flores and fellow protesters who call their group 'Reclaiming Our Homes.' The state allowed group members, or Reclaimers, to remain legally and paying rents far below market rates for two years. Since then, the agencies have continued to offer referrals for permanent housing and financial settlements of up to $20,000 if group members left voluntarily. Evictions, they've said, were a last resort and required by law. "We don't have any authority to operate outside of that," said Tina Booth, director of asset management for the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, which is operating the housing program on Caltrans' behalf. Four Reclaimers, including Flores, remain in the homes. Two have accepted settlements and are expected to leave within weeks. The final Reclaimer also has a court-ordered eviction against him, but plans to leave without incident. Caltrans wants to sell Flores' home and the other empty houses in El Sereno to public or nonprofit housing providers, which would make them available to low-income residents for rent or purchase. Flores said evicting him makes no sense because the property is intended to be used as affordable housing that he qualifies for. Flores, who suffers from diabetes, collects about $1,200 a month in Social Security and supplemental payments. If he's removed, Flores said, he has no other option except to sleep in his van — where he lived for 14 years before the home seizure. 'We are going to live on the streets for the rest of our lives,' Flores said of he and others evicted in the protest group in an open letter he sent to Sheriff Robert Luna last week. Flores received advance notice of the lockout. His supporters began arriving at 6 a.m. Tuesday to fill the normally sleepy block. Flores already was up in the tree. Within 90 minutes, more than two dozen people had arrived. They stationed lookouts on the corners. Some went inside Flores' house through a side door to provide another layer of defense. Gina Viola, an activist and former mayoral candidate, rallied the crowd on the sidewalk. It was "despicable," she said, to leave homes empty when so many were in need. She said those in power needed to act, just as Flores and the Reclaimers have, to provide permanent housing immediately. 'This is part of a reckoning that is long overdue,' Viola said. She pointed to the tree house, praising Flores. 'He's a 70-year-old elder who has climbed … into the sky to make this point to the world: 'This is my home and I won't leave it.'' The structure has been visible from the street for weeks. Flores had attached a sign to the front with a message calling for a citywide rent strike. The tree house is elaborate. Flores used galvanized steel braces to attach a series of ladders to the ash tree's trunk. Where the trunk narrowed higher in the tree, Flores bolted spikes into the bark to make the final few steps into the structure. Inside the tree house and hanging on nearby branches were blankets, warm clothing, food, water and his medication. To keep things clean, there's a wooden broom he can sweep out leaves and other detritus. Flores expected to charge his phone via an extension cord connected to electricity in the garage. He bolted a chair to the bottom of the tree house and has a safety belt to catch him should he fall. Read more: Another group of homeless moms and families are taking over a house — this time in L.A. Deputies had not yet arrived by 9 a.m. Flores descended, wearing a harness, to speak with members of the news media from his driveway. He spoke from behind a locked fence. Flores rejected the assertion that the Housing Authority has provided him with another place to live. He said the agency's offers of assistance, such as Section 8 vouchers, aren't guarantees. He cited the struggles that voucher holders face when finding landlords to accept the subsidies. 'They offered me potential permanent housing,' Flores said of the Housing Authority. Jenny Scanlin, the agency's chief strategic development officer, said that Flores was offered more than two dozen referrals to other homes, but that he rejected them. Some involved waiting lists and vouchers, but others had occupancy immediately available, she said. 'We absolutely believe he would have had an alternative place to live — permanent affordable housing' — had Flores accepted the assistance, Scanlin said. As Flores held court in the driveway, he rolled up a pant leg to show a sore from his diabetes and said that on the streets he'd have nowhere to refrigerate his insulin. While Flores spoke, supporters were on edge. Representatives of the property management company milled a block away holding drills. Around 9:45, two sheriff's cruisers parked a block away. Three deputies got out and met the property managers, then walked to Flores' home. Read more: 'It's a dream to be a property owner': Years after freeway's demise, L.A. renters are buying state-owned homes Flores' supporters met them at the driveway. The deputies said they wanted to talk to Flores and brushed past to the locked gate. Flores told them to ask themselves why they needed to evict a senior citizen. The deputies responded that they had offered assistance from adult protective services and were following orders from the court. A deputy handed Flores a pamphlet describing housing resources the county offered, including information about calling 211. Flores held up the paper above his head to show everyone. The crowd started booing and yelling "Shame." An officer then tried to reason with Flores in Spanish. But it was clear things were going nowhere. 'Suerte,' the officer said to Flores. 'Good luck.' Then they left. The Sheriff's Department could not immediately be reached for comment, and a Caltrans spokesperson referred comment to the Housing Authority. Scanlin said she expected the lockout process would continue per the court's order. Flores and his supporters believe sheriff's deputies could return at any time. Some are planning to camp out at his house overnight. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
7 days ago
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Elderly man builds tree house to protest eviction from state-owned home
Before the sun rose Tuesday, Benito Flores fortified the front door of his one-bedroom duplex on a narrow street in El Sereno. Flores, a 70-year-old retired welder, had illegally seized a home five years ago after its owner, the California Department of Transportation, had left it vacant. He'd been allowed to stay for a few months, then was directed to this nearby home owned by the agency, but now it was time to go. Later in the morning, deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department were scheduled to lock him out. Flores clearly had other plans. Over months, he'd sawed wooden two-by-fours to use as a brace between the front door and an interior wall to make it harder to breach. He bolted shut the metal screen door. Once Flores was satisfied he'd secured the entrance Tuesday, he retreated to a wooden structure he built 28 feet high in an ash tree in the backyard. If the police wanted him to leave, they'd have to come get him in his tree house. 'I plan to resist as long as I can,' Flores said. The homemade structure, 6 feet tall and 3 feet wide, represents the last stand for Flores and a larger protest that captured national attention in March 2020. Flores and a dozen others occupied empty homes owned by Caltrans, acquired by the hundreds a half-century ago for a freeway expansion that never happened. They said they wanted to call attention to the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles. The issue, Flores said, remains no less urgent today. Political leaders, he argued, have failed to provide housing for all who need it. 'They don't care about the people,' Flores said. 'Who is supposed to give permanent housing to elders, disabled and families with children? It is the city and the state. And they are evicting me.' For the public agencies involved, the resistance represents an intransigence that belies that assistance and leniency they've offered to Flores and fellow protesters who call their group 'Reclaiming Our Homes.' The state allowed group members, or Reclaimers, to remain legally and paying rents far below market rates for two years. Since then, the agencies have continued to offer referrals for permanent housing and financial settlements of up to $20,000 if group members left voluntarily. Evictions, they've said, were a last resort and required by law. 'We don't have any authority to operate outside of that,' said Tina Booth, director of asset management for the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, which is operating the housing program on Caltrans' behalf. Four Reclaimers, including Flores, remain in the homes. Two have accepted settlements and are expected to leave within weeks. The final Reclaimer also has a court-ordered eviction against him, but plans to leave without incident. Caltrans wants to sell Flores' home and the other empty houses in El Sereno to public or nonprofit housing providers, which would make them available to low-income residents for rent or purchase. Flores said evicting him makes no sense because the property is intended to be used as affordable housing that he qualifies for. Flores, who suffers from diabetes, collects about $1,200 a month in Social Security and supplemental payments. If he's removed, Flores said, he has no other option except to sleep in his van — where he lived for 14 years before the home seizure. 'We are going to live on the streets for the rest of our lives,' Flores said of he and others evicted in the protest group in an open letter he sent to Sheriff Robert Luna last week. Flores received advance notice of the lockout. His supporters began arriving at 6 a.m. Tuesday to fill the normally sleepy block. Flores already was up in the tree. Within 90 minutes, more than two dozen people had arrived. They stationed lookouts on the corners. Some went inside Flores' house through a side door to provide another layer of defense. Gina Viola, an activist and former mayoral candidate, rallied the crowd on the sidewalk. It was 'despicable,' she said, to leave homes empty when so many were in need. She said those in power needed to act, just as Flores and the Reclaimers have, to provide permanent housing immediately. 'This is part of a reckoning that is long overdue,' Viola said. She pointed to the tree house, praising Flores. 'He's a 70-year-old elder who has climbed … into the sky to make this point to the world: 'This is my home and I won't leave it.'' The structure has been visible from the street for weeks. Flores had attached a sign to the front with a message calling for a citywide rent strike. The tree house is elaborate. Flores used galvanized steel braces to attach a series of ladders to the ash tree's trunk. Where the trunk narrowed higher in the tree, Flores bolted spikes into the bark to make the final few steps into the structure. Inside the tree house and hanging on nearby branches were blankets, warm clothing, food, water and his medication. To keep things clean, there's a wooden broom he can sweep out leaves and other detritus. Flores expected to charge his phone via an extension cord connected to electricity in the garage. He bolted a chair to the bottom of the tree house and has a safety belt to catch him should he fall. Deputies had not yet arrived by 9 a.m. Flores descended, wearing a harness, to speak with members of the news media from his driveway. He spoke from behind a locked fence. Flores rejected the assertion that the Housing Authority has provided him with another place to live. He said the agency's offers of assistance, such as Section 8 vouchers, aren't guarantees. He cited the struggles that voucher holders face when finding landlords to accept the subsidies. 'They offered me potential permanent housing,' Flores said of the Housing Authority. Jenny Scanlin, the agency's chief strategic development officer, said that Flores was offered more than two dozen referrals to other homes, but that he rejected them. Some involved waiting lists and vouchers, but others had occupancy immediately available, she said. 'We absolutely believe he would have had an alternative place to live — permanent affordable housing' — had Flores accepted the assistance, Scanlin said. As Flores held court in the driveway, he rolled up a pant leg to show a sore from his diabetes and said that on the streets he'd have nowhere to refrigerate his insulin. While Flores spoke, supporters were on edge. Representatives of the property management company milled a block away holding drills. Around 9:45, two sheriff's cruisers parked a block away. Three deputies got out and met the property managers, then walked to Flores' home. Flores' supporters met them at the driveway. The deputies said they wanted to talk to Flores and brushed past to the locked gate. Flores told them to ask themselves why they needed to evict a senior citizen. The deputies responded that they had offered assistance from adult protective services and were following orders from the court. A deputy handed Flores a pamphlet describing housing resources the county offered, including information about calling 211. Flores held up the paper above his head to show everyone. The crowd started booing and yelling 'Shame.' An officer then tried to reason with Flores in Spanish. But it was clear things were going nowhere. 'Suerte,' the officer said to Flores. 'Good luck.' Then they left. The Sheriff's Department could not immediately be reached for comment, and a Caltrans spokesperson referred comment to the Housing Authority. Scanlin said she expected the lockout process would continue per the court's order. Flores and his supporters believe sheriff's deputies could return at any time. Some are planning to camp out at his house overnight.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Yahoo
'I'm going to resist': Protesters who seized state-owned homes five years ago prepare for eviction battle
Benito Flores has parked his battered, pale yellow Dodge Ram van on the narrow street in El Sereno outside his one-bedroom duplex. It reminds him of the past and the possibility of an unwelcome future. A retired welder, Flores lived and worked out of the van for 14 years before joining an audacious protest against homelessness in Los Angeles in spring 2020. Flores was among a dozen individuals and families who seized state-owned homes that had been left empty and rotting for decades in El Sereno after they'd been acquired for a freeway expansion that failed. Following a public outcry and months of negotiations, Flores and the others, a group who called themselves "Reclaiming Our Homes," were allowed to stay in the houses temporarily. But no more. In March, Flores received an eviction judgement against him. Now, he's preparing for his time in state property to end as it began: defying the authorities by occupying a house the law says isn't his. If Flores is forcibly removed from the duplex, he plans once again to sleep in his van, an outcome that would violate what he believes is the state's responsibility to house the poor and elderly. 'To live in a van, to live in the streets is a crime,' said Flores, 70. Read more: Another group of homeless moms and families are taking over a house — this time in L.A. In recent weeks, Los Angeles County Superior Court judges have ordered Flores and two other "Reclaimers" evicted from homes owned by the California Department of Transportation. Similar cases against three additional Reclaimers are pending. Officials with the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, which has been operating a transitional housing program in the Caltrans homes for the Reclaimers and others, say that the evictions are a last resort after providing the group with unprecedented assistance. Most recently, the housing authority has offered buyouts for the Reclaimers to leave voluntarily. The agency has kept the deals in place even after winning in eviction court, said Tina Booth, HACLA's director of asset management. The terms give individual Reclaimers $20,000, an additional two and a half months in the homes and help looking for a new place. 'We all know how tight the rental market is,' Booth said. 'We thought it was still right to continue to offer them a settlement package.' No dates have been set to lock out those with judgments against them. The roots of today's standoff were planted a half-century ago. Caltrans started acquiring hundreds of homes in El Sereno and nearby South Pasadena and Pasadena with plans to expand the 710 Freeway through the San Gabriel Valley. Decades of resistance stalled the effort and the project was killed in 2018. In the meantime, Caltrans rented the houses out and, as many deteriorated over the years, left dozens of them vacant. In March 2020, with the assistance of activist groups, Flores and other homeless and housing-insecure Angelenos broke into empty homes in El Sereno and declared their intent to stay. An uneasy detente between the Reclaimers and the authorities followed. That fall, they reached a deal. Caltrans contracted with the housing authority and created a special, short-term lease agreement to allow the Reclaimers to pay rent, far below market rate, and remain in the homes legally for up to two years. Since the deadline expired, the housing authority has made multiple attempts to evict the Reclaimers. Facing pressure, some left on their own. Others who took less lucrative buyout offers returned to homelessness or had caseworkers steer them to supportive housing. Read more: After 13 years, a homeless Angeleno broke into her old, vacant home and wants to stay forever The six who remain contend that the alternatives HACLA has offered would require their families to cram into smaller spaces, move far from El Sereno or accept referrals or vouchers that did not guarantee new housing. Instead, the Reclaimers have pushed for the option to buy the Caltrans homes, as the agency's long-term tenants now have the option to do, through a land trust or other community-ownership model. Last year, the protesters lost a civil lawsuit against Caltrans where they argued they should qualify under the purchase plan available to tenants. The ruling is under appeal. Some Reclaimers fear that if they accept the HACLA settlements and leave, they'll be ineligible to buy homes if the decision is overturned. 'That's my dilemma,' said Sandra Saucedo, who lost her eviction case last month. Saucedo, 43, had been sleeping in her car before seizing a Caltrans home. The decision allowed her to reunite with her two sons, now 17 and 23, who continue to live with her in a one-bedroom duplex. The years in a home together stabilized her family, she said. 'I've grown so much as a person, as a woman,' Saucedo said. 'This is how I feel my life should look from now on. This is where I want to be.' If she's forced to go, Saucedo expects her sons' father to take in her children while she goes back to her car or moves to Texas to stay with family. Caltrans has started selling occupied homes to tenants while the empty properties were offered to local governments and nonprofits. Last year, Caltrans agreed to sell three dozen vacant homes in El Sereno to San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity, the housing authority and others to be refurbished and converted into affordable housing for sale or rent. Caltrans plans to put a new set of empty homes out to bid this spring and ultimately intends to sell them all, agency spokesperson Eric Menjivar said. HACLA and Caltrans are winding down their partnership for the transitional housing program. The housing authority has returned five of the two dozen properties included in the arrangement back to Caltrans and will do the same for the remaining homes as they become empty, Booth said. Caltrans and HACLA officials said they have no basis to allow the Reclaimers to stay and must follow the processes outlined in their contracts and state law. 'We cannot work outside of the confines of what we have the authority to do,' Booth said. Besides legal arguments surrounding the Reclaimers' tenancies, philosophical ones remain at issue. Read more: 'It's a dream to be a property owner': Years after freeway's demise, L.A. renters are buying state-owned homes Many in the community have argued that the Reclaimers jumped the line ahead of other needy families who have been languishing for years on affordable housing wait lists and losing lotteries for scarce rentals. Allowing the group to stay would reward its lawbreaking. At the same time, forcing the Reclaimers out means in practice that government agencies would be evicting low-income residents from publicly owned homes only to sell them to nonprofits that would then rent or sell them to other low-income residents months or years from now. Many Reclaimers campaigned for City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, a tenant attorney who won election to the district representing El Sereno last year. Flores keeps a Jurado sign in his front yard and a poster of her on his door. The group has held multiple meetings with Jurado and her staff since she took office to ask for assistance. Jurado said in an interview that her priority was ensuring that the Reclaimers were treated fairly. 'Housing is definitely what those folks need,' Jurado said. 'That's why this whole situation started in the first place, right?' Jurado did not provide a specific position on whether the Reclaimers should be allowed to stay in the Caltrans homes, saying those discussions were between group members and the housing authority. HACLA has requested delays to the court hearings for two other Reclaimers who have been touring apartment buildings elsewhere. A judge has heard arguments but not yet ruled in the final case. Booth said she hoped that all the Reclaimers ultimately will accept the offers and leave without incident. 'We are committed to the very end with all folks,' she said. 'If those that have gotten the rulings want to come back and continue to work with us, let us help them land on their feet. We don't want to see the marshal come out and lock anyone out.' At the moment, Flores doesn't intend to change his mind, though he understands that living in his van will be harder than five years ago. He's afraid of losing his feet from diabetes. His shins are red with sores. Even climbing into the van these days takes more effort than he would like. But he's sure he's on the side of justice. 'I'm going to resist in a very strong, very creative way,' Flores said. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
11-04-2025
- Los Angeles Times
‘I'm going to resist': Protesters who seized state-owned homes five years ago prepare for eviction battle
Benito Flores has parked his battered, pale yellow Dodge Ram van on the narrow street in El Sereno outside his one-bedroom duplex. It reminds him of the past and the possibility of an unwelcome future. A retired welder, Flores lived and worked out of the van for 14 years before joining an audacious protest against homelessness in Los Angeles in spring 2020. Flores was among a dozen individuals and families who seized state-owned homes that had been left empty and rotting for decades in El Sereno after they'd been acquired for a freeway expansion that failed. Following a public outcry and months of negotiations, Flores and the others, a group who called themselves 'Reclaiming Our Homes,' were allowed to stay in the houses temporarily. But no more. In March, Flores received an eviction judgement against him. Now, he's preparing for his time in state property to end as it began: defying the authorities by occupying a house the law says isn't his. If Flores is forcibly removed from the duplex, he plans once again to sleep in his van, an outcome that would violate what he believes is the state's responsibility to house the poor and elderly. 'To live in a van, to live in the streets is a crime,' said Flores, 70. In recent weeks, Los Angeles County Superior Court judges have ordered Flores and two other 'Reclaimers' evicted from homes owned by the California Department of Transportation. Similar cases against three additional Reclaimers are pending. Officials with the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, which has been operating a transitional housing program in the Caltrans homes for the Reclaimers and others, say that the evictions are a last resort after providing the group with unprecedented assistance. Most recently, the housing authority has offered buyouts for the Reclaimers to leave voluntarily. The agency has kept the deals in place even after winning in eviction court, said Tina Booth, HACLA's director of asset management. The terms give individual Reclaimers $20,000, an additional two and a half months in the homes and help looking for a new place. 'We all know how tight the rental market is,' Booth said. 'We thought it was still right to continue to offer them a settlement package.' No dates have been set to lock out those with judgments against them. The roots of today's standoff were planted a half-century ago. Caltrans started acquiring hundreds of homes in El Sereno and nearby South Pasadena and Pasadena with plans to expand the 710 Freeway through the San Gabriel Valley. Decades of resistance stalled the effort and the project was killed in 2018. In the meantime, Caltrans rented the houses out and, as many deteriorated over the years, left dozens of them vacant. In March 2020, with the assistance of activist groups, Flores and other homeless and housing-insecure Angelenos broke into empty homes in El Sereno and declared their intent to stay. An uneasy detente between the Reclaimers and the authorities followed. That fall, they reached a deal. Caltrans contracted with the housing authority and created a special, short-term lease agreement to allow the Reclaimers to pay rent, far below market rate, and remain in the homes legally for up to two years. Since the deadline expired, the housing authority has made multiple attempts to evict the Reclaimers. Facing pressure, some left on their own. Others who took less lucrative buyout offers returned to homelessness or had caseworkers steer them to supportive housing. The six who remain contend that the alternatives HACLA has offered would require their families to cram into smaller spaces, move far from El Sereno or accept referrals or vouchers that did not guarantee new housing. Instead, the Reclaimers have pushed for the option to buy the Caltrans homes, as the agency's long-term tenants now have the option to do, through a land trust or other community-ownership model. Last year, the protesters lost a civil lawsuit against Caltrans where they argued they should qualify under the purchase plan available to tenants. The ruling is under appeal. Some Reclaimers fear that if they accept the HACLA settlements and leave, they'll be ineligible to buy homes if the decision is overturned. 'That's my dilemma,' said Sandra Saucedo, who lost her eviction case last month. Saucedo, 43, had been sleeping in her car before seizing a Caltrans home. The decision allowed her to reunite with her two sons, now 17 and 23, who continue to live with her in a one-bedroom duplex. The years in a home together stabilized her family, she said. 'I've grown so much as a person, as a woman,' Saucedo said. 'This is how I feel my life should look from now on. This is where I want to be.' If she's forced to go, Saucedo expects her sons' father to take in her children while she goes back to her car or moves to Texas to stay with family. Caltrans has started selling occupied homes to tenants while the empty properties were offered to local governments and nonprofits. Last year, Caltrans agreed to sell three dozen vacant homes in El Sereno to San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity, the housing authority and others to be refurbished and converted into affordable housing for sale or rent. Caltrans plans to put a new set of empty homes out to bid this spring and ultimately intends to sell them all, agency spokesperson Eric Menjivar said. HACLA and Caltrans are winding down their partnership for the transitional housing program. The housing authority has returned five of the two dozen properties included in the arrangement back to Caltrans and will do the same for the remaining homes as they become empty, Booth said. Caltrans and HACLA officials said they have no basis to allow the Reclaimers to stay and must follow the processes outlined in their contracts and state law. 'We cannot work outside of the confines of what we have the authority to do,' Booth said. Besides legal arguments surrounding the Reclaimers' tenancies, philosophical ones remain at issue. Many in the community have argued that the Reclaimers jumped the line ahead of other needy families who have been languishing for years on affordable housing wait lists and losing lotteries for scarce rentals. Allowing the group to stay would reward its lawbreaking. At the same time, forcing the Reclaimers out means in practice that government agencies would be evicting low-income residents from publicly owned homes only to sell them to nonprofits that would then rent or sell them to other low-income residents months or years from now. Many Reclaimers campaigned for City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, a tenant attorney who won election to the district representing El Sereno last year. Flores keeps a Jurado sign in his front yard and a poster of her on his door. The group has held multiple meetings with Jurado and her staff since she took office to ask for assistance. Jurado said in an interview that her priority was ensuring that the Reclaimers were treated fairly. 'Housing is definitely what those folks need,' Jurado said. 'That's why this whole situation started in the first place, right?' Jurado did not provide a specific position on whether the Reclaimers should be allowed to stay in the Caltrans homes, saying those discussions were between group members and the housing authority. HACLA has requested delays to the court hearings for two other Reclaimers who have been touring apartment buildings elsewhere. A judge has heard arguments but not yet ruled in the final case. Booth said she hoped that all the Reclaimers ultimately will accept the offers and leave without incident. 'We are committed to the very end with all folks,' she said. 'If those that have gotten the rulings want to come back and continue to work with us, let us help them land on their feet. We don't want to see the marshal come out and lock anyone out.' At the moment, Flores doesn't intend to change his mind, though he understands that living in his van will be harder than five years ago. He's afraid of losing his feet from diabetes. His shins are red with sores. Even climbing into the van these days takes more effort than he would like. But he's sure he's on the side of justice. 'I'm going to resist in a very strong, very creative way,' Flores said.
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
A homeless woman struggles to say goodbye to the home she raised her kids in
She knew she had to go even though she couldn't imagine moving somewhere else. Maria Merritt has lived in El Sereno the better part of 30 years. Her little home on Poplar Boulevard served as the beacon in a turbulent life that led her to solid ground. She raised her four kids there, had a well-paid job and a spell of normal family life, cooking big meals on Sundays and adorning the front picture window with Christmas decorations in winter. Even when she was homeless, the vacant house was always waiting for her return. Nearly five years ago, she broke in and reclaimed it. But last fall, following months of eviction proceedings, Merritt let go of the home and left the neighborhood that gave her so much. 'It's breaking me inside,' said Merritt, 57, on the eve of her departure. 'I feel like a light shining that's going to be shut down.' Read more: After 13 years, a homeless Angeleno broke into her old, vacant home and wants to stay forever She moved 11 miles away to an apartment in a Westlake supportive housing building. She hoped the decision would put an end to the cycle of turbulent living since she left her Poplar Boulevard home for the first time in 2007. But her sense of stability began to fragment the moment she arrived. Things were not looking good. The California Department of Transportation's half-century epic over the failed 710 Freeway expansion — and the homes the agency acquired to build it — is coming to a checkered climax. Each person or family living in the houses is reaching their own finale to the saga, some happy, some sad, many in between. Merritt's swings with the ups and downs of her fragile mental health. She rented the two-bedroom Poplar Boulevard cottage in 1995, living there a dozen years before tragedy, addiction and mental illness left her unable to pay the rent and led her kids to scatter. More than a decade of homelessness followed, at times spent sleeping in a median strip that stretches along the neighborhood's main drag. Then, one morning in spring 2020, she watched a group of Angelenos move into vacant, Caltrans-owned homes in protest against L.A.'s homelessness crisis. The next day, the activists helped Merritt seize the Poplar Boulevard home, which had remained empty since she'd abandoned it. Inside, she found decades-old photos of herself and her children. A pressure campaign from group members, who call themselves Reclaimers, pushed the transportation agency to legalize the living situations for Merritt and the others. Caltrans contracted with the Housing Authority of the city of Los Angeles to allow a dozen Reclaimers and those in similar situations to live and pay rent for two years in refurbished properties. Merritt wanted to stay forever. Now that the freeway project is dead, more than 30 Caltrans tenants and counting are buying their homes at bargain rates. Scores of vacant properties are being sold off as affordable housing. Merritt believed owning the house would help atone for the hurt she'd caused her children and bolster her efforts to repair their relationship. Read more: 'It's a dream to be a property owner': Years after freeway's demise, L.A. renters are buying state-owned homes But Caltrans said Merritt didn't qualify for the purchase plan, and in 2021 she had to move out of the Poplar Boulevard home, which the government agencies deemed unsafe, to another state-owned house nearby. Since the two-year agreements have long expired, the housing authority had been trying to force Merritt and the remaining group members out. Merritt intended to fight her eviction. Her second stint in El Sereno homes gave her the stability to kick her methamphetamine habit, steady her mental health and apply successfully for Social Security disability benefits. She believed leaving would threaten her progress. Other Reclaimers were facing eviction, too. With the help of legal aid lawyers, the group defeated multiple attempts in Los Angeles County Superior Court to remove them. Each time, the housing authority refiled the cases. This month, the six Reclaimers still living in Caltrans-owned homes have court hearings that could lead to eviction judgments against them. Because of the timing of when Merritt's case was filed last year, the attorneys representing the others had full caseloads and she couldn't find one to assist her. Going it alone was overwhelming. In September, Merritt agreed to a deal. The housing authority would pay her $15,000 if she left voluntarily. That would remove the threat of sheriff's deputies hauling her out, provide a nest egg to start anew and give her more control of a situation she believed would otherwise turn out poorly. "I want to live in a reality world," she said. "I cannot lie to myself because that brings me tension not to move forward." Caseworkers steered Merritt to a one-bedroom apartment with supportive services near MacArthur Park. It's in a new building, furnished and has a second-floor deck that overlooks a school. But the location's busyness, congestion and crowding — it's in one of the most overcrowded neighborhoods in the country — worried her. Read more: One family's desperate act to escape overcrowded housing in L.A. Merritt's physical health has worsened over the past year, forcing her to rely on a cane, walker or just hobble to get around. Her left leg swells after knee replacement surgery a couple years ago. Sometimes, her fingers and toes freeze and she's unable to bend them. Her arms seize up and she struggles to raise them above her shoulders. Yet, she keeps trying to remind herself, the circumstances around her departure could have been far worse. Two other Reclaimers who accepted the $15,000 buyout returned to homelessness once they left the Caltrans homes. Merritt's greatest dread is going back to the streets. 'The suffering,' she said. 'The sun. The heat. The cold. Oh my God.' Moving day came in mid-November. Merritt had been cleaning and packing in preparation. But the morning of, much of her clothes, kitchenware and other items remained unboxed. The rest was too hard, physically and emotionally. As the hour for the moving van's arrival approached, Merritt called around for support. Her 28-year-old daughter, Kianna, showed up first with a friend. Then came Martha Escudero, a Reclaimer who lives up the street in a Caltrans home with her two teenage daughters. Two women who got word from a Reclaimers' text message chain that Merritt needed help came next. They brought duct and masking tape and filled cardboard boxes with the rest of Merritt's belongings. By late afternoon, the van was packed and on its way to Westlake. From her new couch, Merritt watched the movers pile her stuff carefully throughout the unit. 'I can't believe I'm getting out,' she told a caseworker over the phone, scanning her clothes hangers, handbags, space heater, and flower pots. 'That I'm leaving.' A few days later, she handed back the keys to the El Sereno home. Read more: They seized vacant El Sereno homes at the start of the pandemic. Now, they face eviction The transition to Westlake nearly broke her. Overcome with stress, Merritt cut off her hair, a buzzcut that resembled her appearance when she lived on the streets. Her mental health worsened; thoughts and speech became less coherent. Day by day, week by week and month by month, she steadied herself. Her apartment felt more secure than the old house, where she jumped at unfamiliar noises and felt the need to lock the windows and doors — including her bedroom closet — every time she'd leave. She's hung photos and decorations in the new apartment. Her most prized are the pictures of her grandchildren and their artwork. On a kitchen cabinet door, Merritt pinned a multicolored turkey her 3-year-old grandson crafted out of a brown paper bag at Thanksgiving. Seeing it reminds her of him, and strengthens her. 'I just look over there and it's like, 'He loves me. I have to get better,'' Merritt said. Her hair has grown back, and she's dyed part of it with a blue tinge. On a recent weekday morning, a pan of mole and Mexican rice Merritt cooked waited for her on the stove. A friend had gifted her a half-dozen lemons from her tree, and Merritt rested them in a glass bowl after washing the fruit with baking soda and water. Lately, Merritt's hobby has been cleaning and repairing posters and signs with positive affirmations she finds at thrift stores. She's working on one with the lyrics of 'Amazing Grace.' Another declares, 'I Am Kind of A Big Deal.' 'I have a life,' she said. 'I have plans. I have projects that to some people don't mean nothing. But to me, it restores my mind and my soul and my heart. It gets me together like a puzzle in my head.' She's grateful for the relief her new apartment has given her, but doesn't intend to remain there for long. It's too isolating. She rarely goes out after dark. Merritt misses what she had in El Sereno, which she still calls 'my city.' Merritt remembers the near weekly visits to the Caltrans home from her daughter and young grandson, how much the 3-year-old enjoyed playing in the backyard. 'They were there,' she said. 'They were elevating me. I was not alone.' If Merritt has her way, she'll return to El Sereno or find a house somewhere else that's just as welcoming for her family to gather. But she knows she has time. No one is forcing her to go anywhere. Whenever she moves again, she's confident the decision will be hers. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
