Growing concerns with homelessness in Citrus Heights
[RE: Guest Opinion: California’s homeless crisis and Citrus Heights’ local response; March 1st] Although I applaud the fine work of our Police Department and all of our officers, I have more and more concerns about the homeless situation in Citrus Heights.
Around five years ago, I think our homeless number was something like 32. This rose quickly, and now it is 163, with 191 the year prior. The homeless move from area to area and city to city – so it might be 191 again.
Last week, when I went to Walgreens (Antelope and Sunrise) after dark, my wife and I had to work our way through and around homeless in front of the Walgreens front door. Just a bit unsettling for us seniors and women.
A couple of weeks ago I found a homeless person’s grocery cart fill with their stuff at my front door. Since there was no one around the cart, I went out into our court looking for them.
My first thought was that they might me casing the neighborhood for a robbery. This occurred to me because a little over a year ago, one of them came into our court lifting car door handles as they went along. They found my son’s car unlocked – and they took it.
Many times, we see homeless in McDonald Park when the kids are playing baseball. When you walk by them, some have some choice words for you.
There’s also an empty lot on the east end of Antelope at Wonder that has junk spread all around. There was someone living in a trailer for a while. Now there’s a make-shift wall near the street with homeless sometimes sleeping behind it.
-Jim Monteton, Citrus Heights
Other Letter(s):
Grateful for city leadership in Citrus Heights
My husband and I are conservative seniors who have spent most of our life in California, and almost the last 14 years in Citrus Heights. We are grateful for decisions made by our city council, our police department and our county supervisor, which have managed to keep our community beautiful and safe compared to other cities in this state.
Gov. Newsom’s decision to declare California a sanctuary state has the effect of hamstringing law enforcement, as CA has become a magnet for the homeless and illegal population. It feels like our community leaders are like salmon swimming upstream against the current pressure to declare our city a sanctuary city.
As 83 year old residents, we feel vulnerable but support the efforts our leaders have taken.
-Evie Sholtis, Citrus Heights
Sunrise Mall could be good for homeless services
Regarding the ‘homeless’ crisis in Citrus Heights, I was just wondering why we can’t centralize the services offered to the homeless — let’s say at the empty Sears building at Sunrise Mall. There are bathrooms and lots of room.
The upstairs could be offices for the various services offered, the floors below could be barracks. The basement could be for women and the ground for men. There would be lots of room to build a kitchen — to feed the masses.
The building is empty so there isn’t any rent being paid anyway. We would be using an existing resource, so this could be up and running within a month. It’s centrally located so one would have to walk too far to get a bed or a meal. Just a thought.
-Lana Crum, Citrus Heights
Supervisor Frost deserves a thank you
[RE: Guest Column: Help is on the way for police responding to mental health crisis calls; Feb. 19th] I want to thank Sue Frost and everyone who helped to get the MCST (Mental Health Crisis Teams) in the Citrus Heights area. I myself live in Carmichael but my daughter, son in law and grandaughter reside in Citrus Heights. I believe that this team will be able to help with the mentally ill population, whether they be homeless or have a place to live.
Sue Frost, I am very pleased with the improvement you have made to help the mentally ill, their families and the rest of the Citrus Heights residents. With improvements like this, communities should feel better about where they live and the people they share it with. Thank you.
-Renee Bohling, Citrus Heights
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Although I applaud the fine work of our Police Department and all of our officers, I have more and more concerns about the homeless situation in Citrus Heights.
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