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The Ledgewood Creek Communities

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The Ledgewood Creek Homeless Community

At the Ledgewood site near a creek, unhoused residents both find many small comforts but also face many grave dangers which pose severe threats to their safety. One aspect of life along the creek that some enjoy is the peace and quiet, watching the turtles, birds, and ducks living around the creek. However, the peace is disrupted often by the rain, forcing the homeless to move under the tunnel to stay dry. In some cases with the most severe rain, the water level of the creek can rise by more than 5 feet. Moreover, residents rarely get warnings about storms, forcing them to prepare and rescue what they can potentially even after the start of the storm. One woman described frantically pulling her puppies from rising water and later searching downstream for items washed away.

Beyond weather dangers, residents face relentless instability caused by police sweeps that clear camps, forcing them to start over again and again. This constant displacement makes it almost impossible to find work or hold onto important documents and belongings. One camper said bluntly, “Every two weeks, we have to start over,” highlighting how hard it is to build any sense of stability or security. While nonprofits sometimes help by giving out food, water, and clothes, residents feel law enforcement mostly “just move us” without offering real alternatives.

Shelters, often presented as a solution, feel like no solution at all to many people living here. Residents explain they would gladly accept permanent housing, but almost everyone rejects the idea of moving into a shelter. They worry about strict rules that ban pets, enforce curfews, and limit visitors, as well as the lack of privacy and dignity. One man said he’d accept housing “if it was a real house,” not a shelter, and others say they’d agree to some rules, like no-drug policies, but want to keep the freedom to live with pets and loved ones.

Despite these hardships, the Ledgewood residents have built a close although tense community. They share makeshift living rooms with lounge chairs and karaoke, watch over each other’s belongings, and take shifts sleeping so someone is always awake to guard what little they have. One older woman sitting with her adult son and cuddling her chihuahua put it simply: “We hate each other; we love each other. We have each other’s backs.”

In conclusion, those who live at Ledgewood all simply want a place to live. However, rather than the peace they desire from their creek-side residence, they must constantly live in fear of losing all of their possessions due to just one strong rainstorm. This risk demonstrates the fragile status of the unhoused, where their lives are subject to nature, a force only worsened by climate change and global warming. 

Sources

  1. Kerlin, K. E. (2025, January 28). How urban streams, climate change and unhoused people intertwine. UC Davis. https://www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news/urban-streams-climate-change-and-unhoused

  2. Solano’s hidden homeless / the colony: Homeless in the Suburbs. (n.d.). https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/SOLANO-S-HIDDEN-HOMELESS-THE-COLONY-HOMELESS-2595324.php

© 2025 Planetary Pulse 

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