Last two tenants evicted from Horizon Shine
On the morning of May 1, the remaining tenants were ejected from the property. They have 15 days to collect their belongings.
Yesterday morning, between 7 and 8 a.m., the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department evicted Sebastopol natives Charles Dahlquist and Karen Jewel from 895 Gravenstein Highway North, the plot of land that was once Horizon Shine Village. They were the final two of the roughly 25 tenants who had been living in their RV on the property since Feb. of 2022.
At 4 p.m., Dahlquist and Jewel remained just outside of the property as they continued to receive their belongings from Sonoma Applied Village Services (SAVS) contractors through a gap in the fence.
Dahlquist, who has brain damage, admitted he had been notified extensively of the eviction by SAVS and the Sheriff’s Department, but was nonetheless blindsided as he was under the impression that he would have until the evening to vacate. Accompanied by a somber Ben Peterson, the former resident manager of Horizon Shine, neither Dahlquist nor Jewel could provide insight on where they would sleep that night.
Their evictions marked the end of a process that began after the Sebastopol City Council voted to partner with St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) for a 22-unit permanent supportive housing project called “Gravenstein Commons” in May of last year.
“Our agreement with [SVdP] was to be out, so obviously we can’t keep homeless individuals there,” said SAVS director Adrienne Lauby. “They have needs for the property—well, they did—and so we had to leave.”
Citing financial concerns, Sebastopol ended their partnership with SVdP on April 2, which left the fate of the property uncertain—and the ongoing eviction of Horizon Shine’s remaining residents all the more bitter.
By the time the city backed out of its deal with SVdP, the date had already come and gone for SAVS to apply for the cash needed to keep Horizon Shine up and running beyond June 30 of this year.
“If we knew that the city wasn't going to approve [Gravenstein Commons], we would have applied to stay there for another year or two or three or whatever,” Lauby said. “We are very frustrated. We’re also frustrated that there is not six more of these places in Sonoma County where people can go.”
It is unclear what will be done with the property in the future, and it is unclear how long SVdP will hold it for. (Inquiries to SVdP went unanswered.) Regardless, Lauby expects the plot to be completely evacuated by the end of the month, while in the meantime, many former residents have decided to park their RVs on the street right in front of the property.
“We could have found everyone a shelter, but it's up to those folks to say, ‘No, that doesn't work for me,’” Lauby said. “The people you see still on the streets in Sebastopol and elsewhere around the county are the people who have said no.”
In chorus with other former tenants outside the property yesterday, Dahlquist and Jewel expressed frustration at how the property has been allowed to deteriorate since the eviction process began and at the lack of support they have received in ensuring that they have an adequate living situation moving forward.
Even so, they were touched and surprised by the kindness displayed by SAVS contractors over the course of the day.
“I was in tears with how good they were to us,” Jewel said. “They were how you're supposed to be if you have this type of job working with people that anybody in America could be at in any time in their life. It made me get done more than I had been getting done because the rest of the time it's sad.”
agreed. it just moved the problem from the Barlow to an atea of town w fewer voters
Now that this Horizon Shine has closed we now have a bunch of the trailers parked out on 116. When are they going to be moved? What is going to happen to the Horizon Shine property. Are these people going to move their trailers back to Morris St? This never solved the problem!!!!!