STOCKTON, Calif. — U.S. Congressman Josh Harder (D-California) is taking action based on ABC10’s reporting about homeless veterans.
On Monday, ABC10 reported more than 30 homeless veterans are now displaced. That’s after a three-story building in downtown Stockton that has been housing homeless veterans since 2011 - closed its doors.
A Stockton organization called Dignity's Alcove operates the housing and provided meals and supportive services. Director Dianna Weiss told ABC10 the building is in desperate need of proper heating. Plaster is falling off the ceiling in some rooms. There’s water damage and exposed pipes.
Weiss claims the property owner hasn’t made any of these repairs, despite frequent requests, so Dignity’s Alcove stopped paying rent back in October.
When repairs still weren’t made, Weiss went to the city of Stockton, which shut the building down.
Ming Ji, the attorney representing the landlord, said the landlord "is facing financial difficulties to perform all repairs on his own."
The landlord now has until March first to make repairs; then the city will reinspect it.
In the meantime, these veterans now find themselves displaced — at temporary housing across several counties.
"The building is in dire need of repair, dire need. It's understandable, but regrettable,” displaced veteran Ken Serra told ABC10.
"This is my home. This was my home. And the conditions in there are bad,” displaced veteran Richard Bird said. “I'm just trying to live again, you know."
On Wednesday, Weiss said the landlord was making progress, starting repairs inside the building and to the roof.
All of this caught the attention of Rep. Harder.
“We originally saw the coverage that you guys did to highlight what's going on with these veterans, and we heard from our veteran housing advocacy community as well,” he told ABC10. “No person who has served our country in uniform should be sleeping on the streets, and yet we still have - across our community - about 200 homeless veterans every single day. That's unacceptable. We made a big step forward when we were able to get Victory Gardens up and running. We were able to do the opening for that just a little while ago, but what we saw at Dignity-- is that's not good enough."
He mentioned Victory Gardens. That’s a new, government-funded housing facility for homeless veterans under the Housing Authority of the County of San Joaquin (HACSJ).
It opened back in the fall and is currently about 80 percent full, with a plan to be at full capacity and offering full services come April. Victory Gardens is a 48-unit facility.
In a press release Tuesday, Rep. Harder called on Victory Gardens to expand to meet the needs of unhoused veterans, in the wake of the news of the closure of Dignity's Alcove.
ABC10 asked HACSJ about this. They said they have no comment about Harder's statement.
They did say the veterans who live at Victory Gardens come via referral from the Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD-VASH).
