Daily Sound: Casa Esperanza Conflict with Milpas Community Association
Battle lines drawn: Conflict between Milpas Community Association, Casa Esperanza erupts (READER POLL)
On a shaded patch of sidewalk 20 yards from the corner of South Milpas and Cacique streets, a homeless man lays on his back next to a small group of people, and a shopping cart half full of assorted items.
“This is pretty typical,” Allen Ramirez, owner of Ramirez Floor Coverings, said while walking through his office’s small parking lot near the group of transients.
Next to Ramirez Floor Coverings is Casa Esperanza, a homeless shelter at the center of recent controversies. Casa Esperanza serves up to 600 meals per day to a variety of clients, the majority of whom live on the streets.
Merchants near Casa Esperanza for years have complained that the shelter is bad for business in the Milpas area. Recently, however, the conflicts have exploded into the public eye.
The Milpas Community Association recently submitted an 11-page notice — supplemented with more than 170 pages of attachments — to the city of Santa Barbara, claiming that Casa Esperanza has violated its Conditional Use Permit, the document outlining the terms under which the shelter can operate on city land.
The MCA’s letter calls for the City Planning Commission to re-evaluate Casa Esperanza’s CUP within 60 days.
Casa Esperanza Executive Director Mike Foley, however, said the shelter is doing its best to provide valuable services to a needy portion of the public, and remains in compliance with the terms of its CUP.
Sharon Byrne, executive director of the MCA, said she doesn’t question the city or community’s duty to help the homeless, she felt the shelter’s relationship with the surrounding community was important.
“How can you do it [help the homeless] in such a way that it’s a good fit for the surrounding neighborhood, and gets the people their services, and everyone gets along?” Byrne said.
By most accounts, proper security is the area’s biggest problem. Ramirez said loitering and panhandling are common in the parking lots and sidewalk areas near his business, which are frequently soiled with trash and even human waste.
“Where’s the security?” Ramirez said. “This [Casa Esperanza] is not being used as what it was supposed to — it’s become a flop house.”
The MCA maintains that Casa Esperanza has violated two specific sections of its CUP. First, Casa Esperanza is responsible for establishing a “neighborhood outreach program,” which would conduct daily patrols and establish a single telephone number community members can use to report incidents with the homeless.
Second, the shelter is required to operate a functional neighborhood watch patrol separate from the neighborhood outreach program, which would also patrol the surrounding area and “enforce the facility’s code of conduct,” according to the Casa Esperanza CUP.
Byrne attributes some of the problem to Casa Esperanza’s policies and mission—unlike some of the city’s other homeless shelters, the facility does not require its clientele to be sober, instead providing services to any who seek its help.
“Casa always was for the worst of the worst, the ones who wouldn’t get sober, who don’t like to come in off of the streets,” Byrne said. “And the feeling was that if you give them a meal, and don’t make any demands of them, then you could encourage them to come in for services, and then eventually you could get them to reach out for a better life,” Byrne said.
Until recently, Casa Esperanza also operated a detox center for patients wishing to get clean, putting an additional strain on their resources and space. The “Project Recovery” program has since moved to a dedicated building on Placido Avenue.
Though the new center’s opening takes the pressure of an overcrowded detox program away from Casa Esperanza, the shelter is by no means in the clear. Providing security for the shelter is an expensive, time consuming task that Foley said requires the effort of more than just his employees.
“The problems that are being experienced in the Milpas community are being experienced in a lot of other places, and when communities work together as teams, things can really improve,” Foley said.
Foley says Casa Esperanza and the Milpas’ communities woes are magnified by the same budget cuts that have plagued many of the state and county’s services. Unlike shelters in other parts of the state, Foley says Casa Esperanza only receives 30 to 40 percent of its overall revenue from the government, instead relying upon $1 to 1.2 million in donations to stay afloat.
The shelter’s tightened budget — which Foley says was slashed by $200,000 this year and faces another $300,000 cut next year — has placed Casa Esperanza in a tight spot. Foley says the conflict over local security could be easily alleviated by the city.
“I’ve always believed that it’s very possible that you could hire, 8 hours a day of additional security for around $50,000,” Foley said. “Considering all this difficulty, I’m really not sure why it’s not just easier for the city to provide that, and to make that happen.
According to the MCA document, a previously proposed solution to the security concerns on lower Milpas involved the Santa Barbara Police Department taking over a greater role in the shelter’s neighborhood watch and patrol responsibilities.
However, Sgt. Riley Harwood said his department advises and teaches neighborhood watch organizations, but does not run them.
“We are not neighborhood watch volunteers, we are not security guards,” Harwood said. “It’s outside the scope of what we are mandated to do in the community.”
On a recent afternoon, a Casa Esperanza employee responded to a brief disturbance situation about 100 yards from the facility. The employee told a group of homeless people to leave because a business owner had called the police. Foley says the shelter sends out volunteer groups of staffers and clients alike in the mornings to pick up trash and monitor other homeless people in the area.
According to the MCA document, the shelter’s “Street Outreach” program ended in 2011, but it continues to operate similar clean-up and check-ins through the “Step Up” program and Milpas Action Task Force.
Foley said the MCA did not send him a copy of their complaint. He said, however, that Casa Esperanza is keeping up with its agreement with the city.
“From what I can tell so far, I think Casa Esperanza remains in substantial compliance with its conditions,” Foley said.
Despite the controversy, City Councilmember Cathy Murillo, who regularly represents the city council at Milpas Action Task Force meetings, said she was optimistic about the shelter’s future.
“I really do believe that the shelter can operate in a way that doesn’t negatively impact the community around them,” Murillo said.
Murillo has proposed several solutions — such as providing Casa Esperanza clients with bus tokens after meals — to reduce the number of homeless stuck in Casa Esperanza’s immediate area.
“I’m still hopeful that we can find a way to alleviate the pressure there,” Murillo said. “Because what Casa Esperanza does is incredibly useful. It’s really a hub of services and support.”
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