Living on the streets: Stories of Citrus Heights homeless

By Mike Hazlip—
David Bass, who graduated college with a degree in mechanical engineering, is one of the many people living on the streets in Citrus Heights. Over the last year, The Sentinel has talked with various individuals in the community to find out what their reasons are for living on the streets and what might help.

Bass, who’s in his early 50s and has been homeless for two decades, traces his experience back to 1998 when he became estranged from his family. Six of those 20 years he spent in and out of jail, although he didn’t provide any more details.

Living on the streets, he said he started collecting recyclables and turning them in for cash. Over the years, Bass has perfected his route and says he can make about $120 each day.

Bass says he would like to find a job doing something he enjoys. When asked what that might be, he said prospecting for gold. He added there are many things he would enjoy, but doesn’t have the confidence for a job interview.

“You’re not going to be able to get a job because you look like s—, smell like s—,” Bass said. “You probably don’t have the credentials to get a job.”

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The Sentinel spoke with Bass at a demonstration in September outside Citrus Heights City Hall. He was one of about a dozen individuals at the event organized by Alfred Sanchez, also known as the Snack Man, who works with area homeless individuals and says the experience can be degrading.

“There’s a stigma that stays with you, and it’s hard to explain,” said Sanchez. “It’s just sad the way people look at you.”

Leslie’s story
Leslie Rust also spoke with The Sentinel at the event, saying the perception of individuals experiencing homelessness is often inaccurate.

“People out here are intelligent, they’re very intelligent,” Rust said. “We just get lost in the cracks and then it’s a confidence and a self-esteem thing, I think. You get broke down out here.”

Rust has two grown children, and three smaller children. The youngest, just 21 months at the time of the interview, was born just after Rust was able to get into a shelter just three weeks before giving birth.

“I was sleeping in ditches and under trees, pregnant,” she said.

As of September, Rust said she was taking part in an 18-month program focused on helping individuals find more permanent housing while also staying sober. She said the program was extended because of the pandemic.

“I kept doing what they told me to do, staying clean and doing the right thing,” she said.

Rust says housing locators try to help, but there is a need for people willing to rent to people in similar circumstances. When asked what would help people the most, Rust says more attention to transitioning out of homelessness.

“If someone held our hand through the process,” she said. “Because we’re coming with bad credit, evictions, domestic violence, mental illness, drug abuse. We just need more case workers to actually get us to where we need to be.”

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She also called it “heartbreaking” when personal belongings from a camp are cleared out.

“Let us sleep, stop making us move around,” she said. “It’s exhausting. You’re considered a second-class person.”

Christy’s story
Earlier this year, The Sentinel spoke with several individuals at a homeless camp in April. Living between a cement block wall and Interstate 80, the camp was a series of tents mostly tucked away from view of the freeway.

Within the camp, one group had separated themselves from the others in an effort to protect their belongings. One camp resident told The Sentinel the division was between drug users and those who didn’t use drugs.

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A 59-year-old woman in the camp, Christy Ratta, said she had recently left an abusive relationship. She said she has Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and breathing was difficult for her. She was living with her brother in one of the tents and had been homeless for less than two weeks. Ratta also echoed the difficulties of transitioning into permanent housing.

“I want to take [my brother] off the street with me when I go, but I’m not making any headway,” she said. “Then they want three times the amount of money before you can get in [to housing]. And you have to qualify, your credit’s gotta be good.”

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“When you’re homeless, most of the time your credit isn’t that good,” she said. “If you don’t have those qualifications, you can’t get in. So, I’ll be homeless because I don’t have anywhere to go.”

Ratta said she receives about $1,000 from government programs and would like to see more options to help older individuals who are homeless.

Tom’s story
Another man at the same camp in April identified himself as “Tom Tom” and said he had been homeless for about 10 years. He said he was making six figures a year working on cell towers in the early 2000s, but a back injury put him out of work.

“I call it my nightmare time,” he said of the eight years he spent in and out of hospitals after the injury. Eventually, he said workers compensation insurance ran out, and he’s been on the streets ever since.

The bigger picture
Reasons contributing to homelessness vary, and government agencies and nonprofits have struggled to help address the crisis.

Up until the coronavirus pandemic hit last year, the Citrus Heights Police Department conducted an annual survey of the area homeless population, gathering data on the number of homeless, as well as the prevalence of substance abuse and other data.

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The most recent survey from 2019 found 163 homeless individuals in Citrus Heights, down from 186 the prior year. Countywide, estimates indicate more than 5,000 individuals are homeless on any given night in Sacramento County.

An August report by the Associated Press estimates about a quarter of homeless individuals in California have some form of mental illness.

“An estimated 37,000 people pinball between nonprofits and public agencies, cycling through ERs, jails and the streets, sometimes for decades, with no one monitoring their overall care in a fractured system that nobody entirely knows how to fix,” the report said.

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In Citrus Heights, the latest police survey found the majority of respondents identified themselves as “chronically homeless,” unemployed and wanting help. Others said they didn’t want help.

Notably, less than 1% of area homeless identified as military veterans, and the majority said they were addicted to alcohol and drugs.

Full results from the Citrus Heights Police Department’s survey are included below:

• 163 unique homeless surveys completed
• 129 know there are services available (79%)
• 102 want services (62%)
• 48 have used a homeless service in the past (29%)
• 110 consider themselves chronically homeless (67%)
• 2 are veterans (1%)
• 110 are addicted to alcohol and/or drugs (67%)
• 62 claim their probation/parole status prevents them from getting housing (38%)
• 15 have a history of domestic violence (9%)
• 51 claim the lack of affordable housing keeps them homeless (31%)
• 2 with traumatic brain injuries (1%)
• 8 have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (5%)
• 34 claim mental illness, some are self-diagnosed (21%)
• 120 are unemployed (73%)

This article is the first in a series on homelessness in Citrus Heights. Later this month, a follow-up article will address what’s currently being done by nonprofits and government programs to address homelessness.

Want to share your thoughts on homelessness in Citrus Heights? Click here to submit a letter to the editor.