County, Costa Mesa secure $3.6M to clear Talbert Park homeless encampments

A place where unhoused individuals reside in a series of potentially unsafe makeshift encampments, Costa Mesa’s Talbert Regional Park has presented historic challenges for those in the city and in Orange County who work to combat homelessness.

A sign off Balboa Blvd. in Costa Mesa states that camping and and fires are not allowed at Talbert Regional Park.

(Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer)

Adjacent to the Santa Ana River, comings and goings within the park’s vast natural habitat are nearly impossible to monitor, while areas of thick underbrush often mask the subtle signs of life beneath.

But now, with help from a $3.6-million state grant awarded Tuesday, officials from the Orange County Office of Care Coordination plan to partner with the city of Costa Mesa to provide targeted assistance and outreach to the park’s most vulnerable denizens, while restoring park lands.

A homeless encampment at Talbert Regional Park in Costa Mesa, seen in April 2019.

(Courtesy of Katrina Foley)

The grant will help fund a contingent of county employees that will help transition some 60 individuals to housing options and connect them with needed health and social services, according to Doug Becht, director of the office, part of the county’s Health Care Agency.

Funds will also be used to clear up debris at encampments and return the area to its natural habitat.

“We really felt with the amount of folks that are currently residing in Talbert, and the way we’d be able to leverage these resources and partner with the city of Costa Mesa, we would really be able to have a profound impact on the park and the people who live there,” Becht said Tuesday.

Costa Mesa Assistant City Manager Susan Price leads the city’s homelessness response efforts. She said Talbert Park’s geography and the demographic of people living there — primarily monolingual Spanish-speaking individuals from Central America — present unique challenges.

An encampment at Talbert Regional Park, seen in April 2019.

(Courtesy of Katrina Foley)

“It’s a natural habitat that doesn’t have opening and closing hours, so it’s difficult to secure,” she said. “[Unhoused residents] may be undocumented and experiencing barriers to work and housing. There are all types of resources that may need to be deployed if we’re going to have a sustainable impact.”

The award is part of a $47-million Encampment Resolution Funding program initiated by California’s Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency to help people experiencing homeless transition out of encampments and into housing pathways. Grants were awarded to 19 counties statewide.

The Office of Care Coordination worked with city officials and County Supervisor Katrina Foley, a former mayor of Costa Mesa, to secure the grant. Foley said Monday members of the Health Care Agency have made contacts with as many as 129 individuals in recent months.

Costa Mesa’s long-term, 50-bed homeless shelter on Airway Avenue near John Wayne Airport is one option open to unhoused individuals cleared from encampments at Talbert Regional Park.

(File Photo)

Although repeated efforts have been made across county departments to dismantle encampments and funnel people into the city’s permanent bridge shelter, the camps, and their attendant hazards, eventually return.

“The area has been a real trouble spot — it’s a public safety risk and a fire risk,” Foley said. “[Now], the goal is to clear out encampments, help people find housing and resources and return the park to its natural intended use.”

Becht said it will be exciting to see what kind of change happens when a sustained and comprehensive effort is applied to one specific area.

“This is one of those projects where everyone should win [by the time] the project has ended,” he said.

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