Fans of Eureka’s tireless advocate for the homeless, Betty Chinn, will have their opportunity to cast their vote on her behalf today. Chinn, who has dedicated the past two decades to feeding and helping the homeless in Eureka, is one of the New York Times‘ 10 nominees for the Californian of the Year. The nomination […]
Betty Chinn
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UPDATE: Eureka Approves Containerville Move, $75k in Funding
UPDATE: The Eureka City Council voted unanimously yesterday to approve a new location and provide $75,000 in funding for the shipping container shelter project for the homeless. After hours of discussion and public comment, the council voted to relocate the project that currently shelters about 40 people in a vacant lot on the corner of […]
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A ‘Moral Obligation’: Eureka Celebrates Family Shelter Opening
A host of elected officials and community members turned out Friday to catch a first glimpse of Betty Chinn’s new family shelter, which will be up and running in the next couple of weeks. “I’m here as your congressman, but I’m also here like all of you, as a fan of Betty Chinn,” said North […]
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Housing 30 People in 60 Days: The Clock Starts Today
Today the city of Eureka and county of Humboldt officially launched their Housing First campaign. The get-together from noon to 1 p.m. at city hall featured light refreshments and a discussion on how to house 30 people in 60 days, an “achievable goal” recommended as the initial step for implementation of a larger Housing First […]
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Operating, Lease Agreements Last Hurdle for Container Community
Less than 72 hours before more than 100 homeless people are slated to be evicted from the Palco Marsh area, a new temporary housing project to accommodate 40 of them is taking shape. Down at the corner of Commercial and Third streets in Eureka, a bevy of construction crews worked busily this morning to continue […]
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UPDATED: Despite Uncertainty, Homeless Container Community Project Plows Forward
UPDATE: The city of Eureka received one response to its request for proposals to help the soon-to-be-displaced homeless people currently residing behind the Bayshore Mall, and it appears to dead on arrival. City Manager Greg Sparks said he’s currently reviewing the proposal submitted by the local nonprofit Affordable Homeless Housing Alternatives with an eye on […]
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Council Moves forward with Container Community for the Homeless
After an outpouring of critical public comment, the Eureka City Council opted last night to move forward with a proposal to create a temporary homeless living arrangement in a vacant lot on the corner of Third and Commercial streets. In a 4-1 vote, with Councilmember Linda Ciarabellini dissenting, the council amended its shelter crisis declaration […]
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Shipping Container Homeless Village: Happening. Probably.
A bed, three meals a day and a door that locks: Small luxuries, but still more than many have. This is what the new partnership between the Betty Kwan Chinn Homeless Foundation and the Humboldt Coalition for Property Rights is promising for at least 40 of the currently homeless people living behind the Bayshore Mall, […]
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Albuquerque or Auburn? Eureka City Council Considers Different Models to Address Panhandling
At the Dec. 15 Eureka City Council meeting, City Manager Greg Sparks presented research on an idea from Albuquerque, New Mexico: employing panhandlers to participate in city beautification projects. In 2015, Albuquerque put $50,000 toward providing panhandlers with transportation to and from work and a midday meal before then connecting them with services such as […]
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Police Promotions
Being a bit old school, I was put off at first. Eureka Police Chief Andy Mills was on the phone asking me to take part in a community panel that would help him decide who to promote to the position of EPD captain. The positions are critical to Mills’ plan for policing Eureka, which involves […]
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Chinn’s Open House
It’s crisp, it’s clean and it smells like fresh lilies in here — and there they are, two big bunches of loveliness sitting on tables inside the spacious main room of the new Betty Kwan Chinn Day Center on the corner of Seventh and C streets in Eureka. A bank of computers lines a back […]