What Homelessness Looks Like In Santa Clarita — And What’s Being Done To Ease The Crisis
Santa Clarita isn’t a place that’s known for its unhoused population. When residents become homeless, what actually happens?
Santa Clarita native Kathryn Wilde, who is 30, was unhoused between the ages of 18 and 19, as well as 24 and 27 due to challenges with substance abuse.
“My mom kinda set a rule of, ‘If you do drugs you can’t be in the house,’” Wilde said.
When she had to find a new home, she turned to a local shelter created by Bridge to Home for help.
“Being in Bridge to Home — it was a lot of assaults there, there were people that would get physical,” said Wilde. “I was waiting at the bus stop, and someone just came up and socked me, and I had a big ol’ bruise on my head.”
For unhoused people who have addictions, Wilde said drugs can be well within reach at the shelter.
“You’re not allowed to bring in drugs, but everyone does,” Wilde said. “I know I snuck drugs in… There’s drug dealers… I mean, I snuck in needles.”
Wilde was only able to get housed again when she was sent to jail, which led her to get sober and move back in with her mom.
Another Santa Clarita resident who asked to remain anonymous fell into homelessness as a mom in her late twenties.
“My remaining living parent died suddenly and it literally changed my life — everything imaginable was altered into an existence I was unfamiliar with,” she said. “I was born and raised here, undeniably privileged, never saw a day of true struggle, never went to bed cold, hungry or uncomfortable in any way.”
Instead of going to a shelter, she mainly relied on friends for help.
“For me, rising above homelessness was only made a reality because I was introduced to the ‘right people’ who coordinated our placement in a program assisting struggling families (mind you, a program I myself tried to get into previously, but failed — TWICE),” she said.
Dr. Roché Vermaak is the executive director of Family Promise of Santa Clarita Valley, which serves homeless families and pregnant women.
He said unlike cities like Santa Monica, Santa Clarita does not have rent control.
That means the cost of rent for an apartment can easily double in two years, blocking out those who make lower wages.
The pandemic has only made matters worse. Family Promise had the most clients it had ever served in 2021, according to Vermaak.
“Now, at the end of the pandemic, there are people selling their homes and apartments at the height of what they can get for it,” Vermaak said.
According to Vermaak, when those properties are sold, the cost of rent can often double, and families can no longer afford to pay.
“That is the new type of homelessness… it’s just unaffordable to find something in the Santa Clarita Valley to rent,” Vermaak said.
Another issue for the unhoused is a lack of organization when it comes to finding resources.
“There’s no one place that says if you are homeless, do this right now today,’” Vermaak said. “For us, it’s a process of helping families navigate the system, which can be so difficult, especially if you are one of tens of thousands of people experiencing homelessness right now when the system is overwhelmed and you give up.”
But Family Promise can only help a fraction of people in need. It can be difficult for the unhoused to find an organization that has room to help them.
“People are desperate,” Vermaak said. “We are receiving phone calls from the Antelope Valley… Sylmar, the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Glendale, Burbank — you name it… When we phone back they’ll say, ‘I phoned 20 or 25 agencies, which agency are you?’”
The Santa Clarita mom who had experienced homelessness said that help is scarce.
“It’s frustrating that L.A. County resources are either at capacity, exhausted entirely, or just aren’t easily accessible to a community like Santa Clarita,” she said.
To help find workable solutions for homelessness, the City of Santa Clarita has created the Santa Clarita Community Task Force on Homelessness.
According to Vermaak, officials with the city are working to put together a pamphlet with resources for the homeless in it.
After purchasing a transitional house before the start of the pandemic, Family Promise is working on buying more homes for clients to use.
Back in March, Bridge to Home held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new shelter which is set to have apartment-style units.
A list of some of the resources Santa Clarita has available for those experiencing homelessness can be found here.