STOCKTON, Calif — Business owners and residents in downtown Stockton may soon be faced with worsening impacts of an already existing homeless problem if they lose one of the only shelters in the area.
Earlier this week, the city of Stockton declared an emergency effective Aug. 15, saying the potential closure of the Stockton Shelter of the Homeless puts 250 people at risk of being displaced.
Although city leaders are prioritizing efforts to push for a solution to keep the shelter afloat, the possibility of a total closure is a concern for those who live and work in the area.
"Downtown's not friendly to the unsheltered, it's hard to set up and stay," said downtown Stockton business owner, Elazar Abraham. "If people are going to end up on the streets in bulk like this, they're going to increase their enforcement in the business corridors."
San Joaquin County's most recent Point-In-Time report found the city has more than 900 unhoused residents in Stockton alone, causing community advocates and leaders to push for additional resources.
"We all as a community rely on the existing safety net of social services to keep the baseline where it's at," said Abraham. "I mean, 250 people is a lot of people, but there's already so many unsheltered folks like in the sloughs, in the trenches. I have to wonder, at the end of the day, how much of an impact would this make?"
In addition to concern for the people who could find themselves back on the street, businesses and organizations in the surrounding areas could be impacted as well.
The Downtown Stockton Alliance (DSA), a nonprofit in charge of downtown Stockton's cleanliness, safety and economic development, is already challenged by the existing homeless population.
"Downtown is impacted because it is close to that area," said DSA Director Mike Huber. "I have had a couple of conversations with businesses and main thing is that we continue to provide the services that we currently provide and our safety ambassadors out keeping an eye on the area."
Huber says the shelter closure, though "unlikely," would be unfortunate.
"We have a great team here at the DSA and they do a great job of keeping downtown clean and safe and beautiful and walkable and would just have to work a little extra hard," said Huber. "But not having the ability to have the shelter open would affect the families that stay there more than single individuals."
Huber says he feels assured the city will make it happen after hearing what city manager Harry Black had to say about solutions to keep the shelter open.
"I don't think the shelter will close," said Huber. "Everybody's pretty confident that it's going to get handled."
Since declaring a citywide emergency, Stockton leaders are making efforts to provide the shelter with the resources required to keep it open, as well as pushing to get its in-progress homeless navigation center up and running to prevent people from ending up back on the streets.
The city is planning to discuss its efforts at the Stockton Memorial Civic Auditorium Thursday at 11 a.m.
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