Southern Humboldt Man’s Tiny Home Seized and No One Will Explain Where It Is

After an attack on a local houseless man, Shawn Lloyd, on August 22, 2022 left him with a head injury needing five staples, he said his friend donated a tiny home to help keep him safe and protected. But, less than a month later, Caltrans removed the home from state property near Hwy 101 north of Garberville where he had placed it and, even though they promised him three months to retrieve it, the house disappeared and no one is telling him where it is.

“They basically stole my tiny home and gave it to someone else,” Lloyd alleges, adding, “I would go to jail if I did the same thing.”

Backstory

Thirty-nine-year-old Shawn Lloyd grew up in Tacoma, Washington along with his three siblings. According to Lloyd, his mother, Shawn Harris, instilled strong values in her children, encouraging them to get degrees to make the best lives for themselves. Instead of his last years of high school, Lloyd participated in an early college program called “Fresh Start,” and then finished his degree at Washington State University.

Ms. Harris said, “I’m not sure why he is homeless, Shawn has a BA in communications and a Minor in English. He is quite intelligent.”

Lloyd worked as a pharmacy assistant, in sales, and aspired to be an elevator technician, but none of these panned out, she said. Still Lloyd was optimistic until it became a challenge to maintain regular, living-wage employment, Ms. Harris explained. She attributed her son’s employment struggles to student loan debt (which can be removed from a paycheck), a trauma endured by their whole family, in addition to his getting caught up in the criminal justice system “unjustly” early on in life after “he was the victim of a crime.”

This run-in with law enforcement, subsequently derailed his employment opportunities Harris explained, adding, “He’d call me sometimes upset saying he wanted to work hard to make a better life for himself and his family, but he’d tell me – ‘Ma, I just can’t find a decent paying job.’”
Lloyd has since made do working wherever he can doing odd jobs, as a handyman and general laborer in the Emerald Triangle for ten years, five in Southern Humboldt. Since August 2021, he has been camping on public land off Redwood Drive, about two hundred feet away from the 101 freeway in Garberville, close to the Caltrans maintenance yard, the Renner station, and PG&E.

Lloyd’s camp is about two miles away from the location where another homeless man was found hanging from a tree last week. Reporter Kelly Lincoln interviewed District Two Supervisor Bushnell for KMUD News about the death, which was attributed to the weather according to a fellow unhoused friend (in part one of Lincoln’s series).

Options are scarce to avoid the elements but Lloyd said he did his best to survive while complying with the laws as he understood them. He was under the impression that because the land was public, he had the right to camp there. The land also wasn’t posted with ‘No Trespassing’ signs, and considering the Martin v Boise court case, Lloyd claimed, “They cannot criminalize homeless people unless there are adequate shelter facilities and there isn’t any here.”

When Lloyd began camping at this location he said he removed trash, needles, and claimed law enforcement was so impressed they complimented his clean up efforts.

Lloyd explained, “Some people that camp out here don’t take care of their space the way they should, but my Mama taught me to keep my space clean… When I got here I was disappointed, the place was filthy…so I cleaned it up.”

When this reporter asked Lloyd how many times he had interactions with the police since camping there, he laughed hysterically as if the question was a joke. Lloyd revealed police visit his camp so often that he lost track, estimating, “at least once a month… maybe 20-30 times since I have been here.”

However, Lloyd said, “No law enforcement agency has said anything to myself or my neighbors about camping here [before September 23, 2022].”

Caltrans posted a notice in June 2022 saying those there had to leave, though no deadline was specified at that time.

“They claimed in the notice [that we] were illegally camping and defecating on [the] property,” he said.

Lloyd argued the allegations listed by Caltrans were meritless. For example Lloyd disputes that anyone was defecating at his camp, saying, “We have two portapotties by the Renner right there, we are not defecating on the property… and we work with Eel River Clean up to pick up trash.”

Machete Attack

Months passed since the unsigned Caltrans notices were posted in June 2022.

On August 22, 2022, Lloyd was approached by an unwelcome visitor at his neighbors’ camp that he was looking after while they were away. Lloyd asked the intruder why they were there and offered to call his neighbor to confirm they had permission to be at their camp. When Lloyd turned away, he says he was attacked from behind with what he calls a “machete” causing a severe head injury. [Note: Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Samatha Kargas–-see below–-described the weapon as a “hatchet.”]

Lloyd explained, “I was just making sure my neighbors’ place was safe in his absence, as he would do for me, and unfortunately some idiot with a hot head who was upset for whatever reason, hit me in the head with a machete and I had to get five staples…above my left ear towards the back of my head.”

Lloyd told us he saw a California Highway Patrol officer as he walked past with a head wound to get emergency care. He claimed, “When I was walking to the hospital, there was an officer parked at one of the turnouts and he stopped me to ask what was going on. After explaining what just happened, I continued walking to the hospital where I was treated for my head injury…The police had been contacted again at the hospital, but I don’t think any charges were filed, and I haven’t heard anything from them since.”

Lloyd said the officer’s lack of regard for his head injury and need for medical attention was “cold-blooded.”

When asked, CHP did not comment on this alleged first interaction between Lloyd and the officer after the incident.

Lloyd knew the name of the attacker and told law enforcement he said, though he believes the perpetrator faced no consequences.

We reached out to Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office via email for comment on the this incident and Samantha Kargas responded via email, saying,

“A deputy responded to Jerald Phelps ER on August 22, 2022 at 4:34 p.m. after receiving a report of a patient who was possibly assaulted with a hatchet. Deputies made contact with the victim who declined to make a report/press charges. Due to the victim declining to press charges, no case was taken… No further action was taken.”

We then inquired if it was standard policy to not file charges when someone is attacked with a weapon and subsequently suffers a severe head injury.

Kargeas replied, writing,

It really boils down to how cooperative the victim is, if the felony occurred in the presence of a deputy, or if there is sufficient probable cause that a felony has occurred. In this specific case, the victim was uncooperative and would not give the deputies any information. The only report of a … possible assault was secondhand through the hospital notifying the deputy. Based upon the totality of circumstances, including the victim declining to participate in the investigation or pursue charges, no further action was taken. This is covered under PC [836-837].

Lloyd had a head injury at the time, but recalls that when police asked if he wanted to press charges he just “shrugged and said nothing,” unconvinced that filing charges would help.

However, Lloyd argued there was a notable discrepancy in police treatment compared to his own experiences, saying to this reporter during a site visit (extended interview here),

If I hit someone in the head with a machete, [the police] are going to come talk to Shawn Lloyd. They’re going to come arrest me. It doesn’t matter what that person says, if they don’t pursue [charges, police] will anyway, and I’m definitely going to jail no matter what… It’s a deadly weapon. It’s like shooting someone with a gun, they are going to find out who fired the gun— that’s their job.

In December, when we asked the CHP for confirmation that this happened, they referred us to their legal department

Saved by a Tiny Home

As a direct result of the machete incident, Lloyd’s friend gifted him a tiny home that sat on four tires for transportation purposes, two of which Lloyd removed immediately after placing it at his campsite in order to level his new home.

Lloyd explained how he acquired the home from his friend, saying, “[The tiny home] was just sitting on his property. After the incident he didn’t want me to be outside any longer. Not only because of the incident but also because the tiny home was insulated so I would be warmer, it had double paned windows and a wood stove for heat so I wouldn’t be buying propane constantly. It had a door that locked so I could store my personal property and lessen the chance of it being stolen. It was professionally roofed so I would be protected from the rain… it had everything other than siding and carpet, it was professionally built.”

Without his tiny home, Lloyd has to run a propane heater almost 24/7 during the winter just to stay alive “which is very flammable, and so a high fire risk to the community,” he explained.

It’s expensive to be homeless and/or poor. For example, Lloyd’s current living space, a tent, is tarped and covered but still leaks, necessitating extra costs and trips to the laundromat as well. He estimates it costs $60 each trip just to stay clean and dry.

“It’s really cold in the winter months and wet,” Lloyd explained in January. “We’ve had a few below freezing nights this winter already [and snow recently]…Water is seeping into my tent. I go to the laundromat to wash my clothes, but they get wet from the condensation and I have to wash them again…No matter how hard I try to stay dry, half my bed is wet. It’s unfortunate, but this is where I live right now.”

The tiny home (briefly) provided Lloyd protection from the elements, safety from people with weapons, and also from wildlife. Lloyd explained his camp is called “the lion’s den” because of the prominence of bobcats and other wildlife that visit, adding, “I had a bear in my tent a few months back, so the safety difference [was] huge.”

Lloyd said the tiny home is priceless to him personally, but estimated the cost of purchasing a home like his would be about “$5,000 to maybe $9,000,” a substantial amount of money for someone who has no home.

On Friday, September 23, 2022, Lloyd’s new world came crashing down, when he was given a notice by Caltrans to vacate in three days and remove his tiny home the following Monday morning by 10 a.m.

Lloyd said, “After [the CHP and Caltrans] told me I had to move [the tiny home September 23] they proceeded to put two cement barriers…behind my camp, blocking me from getting my tiny home out of there.”

Those concrete barriers were still there during a site visit in January 2023. The only other way to remove the tiny home would be using steep, narrow trails through a dense forest, crossing private property, to get to Redwood Drive.

According to Lloyd on September 23, a CHP officer accompanied by two Caltrans employees handed him the notice that said he was unlawfully camping.

According to Officer Clevenger from the Garberville CHP Sub Station, the CHP officers joined Caltrans that day “for security” though they were “not the lead agency”.

In our initial interview, Officer Clevenger described the day the tiny home was removed, saying, “On September 26… we had an officer providing security for Caltrans. They were doing a homeless encampment clean up. The CHP just provides security for Caltrans while Caltrans performs their duties”

Officer Clevenger explained that prior to the clean ups, Caltrans sometimes “requests CHP to provide security because it’s on the side of the highway, you never know if someone is in the woods. We are just there to assist them and do so at their request…Caltrans typically gives a three day notice to leave.”

Tiny Home Removed: Is Comfort the Crime?

On Monday, September 26, Caltrans and CHP arrived at 10 a.m. to remove Lloyd’s home, alongside a Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) outreach worker.

The interaction was documented in two ten minute videos posted on YouTube by  Lloyd, who set up his phone, and told CHP and Caltrans he “would be recording for my protection and theirs.”

Lloyd said the interaction made him extremely concerned for his safety because, “I’ve had negative experiences with police in the past including this one.” He added, “They started to encroach upon me–six CHP officers were walking towards me all at once from all directions. I started backing up and walking away. I didn’t understand why they were approaching me… in an aggressive way with guns and tasers and the like. I [was] just by myself on public land. I didn’t have any weapons, or look like I had weapons.” [Note: while the officers were equipped with weapons, they did not draw them.”

Lloyd was noticeably distressed initially in the clip when officers were approaching him, particularly in part one. Lloyd can be heard saying, “Don’t approach me. Please keep your distance.”

The audio of the CHP is impossible to hear in some places due to the distance from the camera as Lloyd moves backwards saying that he was “in fear for his safety.”

In part one, Minute Marker 3:20, an officer tells Lloyd, “(Inaudible) we’re going to get a warrant for your arrest for trespassing and failure to obey law enforcement.”

Lloyd claimed he was given one and a half hours to remove his belongings the day of the tiny home removal, so he was not able to grab everything though he had been given notice three days earlier. Lloyd alleges Caltrans started to move his belongings around, as CHP was telling him he was not allowed to go back to the tiny home camp area to grab his stuff or he would be arrested for trespassing.

Lloyd said they threatened to throw his stuff away if he did not comply, and also claims CHP told him that if he did not cooperate with what he felt was an unlawful search of his person, “the sergeant threatened to put a warrant out for my arrest.”

In part two of the clip, Lloyd sets his phone down to retrieve what he could in compliance with their orders, then a CHP officer appears to knock over Lloyd’s phone once, possibly twice, during the tiny home removal.

According to Lloyd, Caltrans didn’t just take his tiny home, but also took his tools, surveillance system (he purchased one after the machete incident for protection), and his 8000 watt generator.

Lloyd claimed that no effort was made to protect his belongings “When I picked up the generator, it was outside the Caltrans building in front, smashed up and rusted,” he said. “It wasn’t covered by any tarps…It looked like it was a victim of the elements.”

CHP Officer Clevenger explained, “As far as the state, we are here for the safety, security and service of the people…Shawn Lloyd was still in the area after the posting for trespassing. He was cited and released to appear in court for trespassing and evading police officers.”

Lloyd feels his rights have been violated by the same officers he said “did not serve and protect” him. Lloyd stated on local  Attorney Eugene Denson’s KMUD radio show, “The Rights Organization,” “The CHP, if anything, should be helping me here telling Caltrans to quit harassing and intimidating me, but no, they joined the intimidation party, and threatened me with jail.”

Lloyd reflected on the incident, writing, “I was cited and released after the initial attempt by CHP officers to unlawfully arrest me for trespassing on public land (the charge itself is an oxymoron). You can’t trespass on public land when you are sleeping outside because there are no adequate shelter facilities (see Martin v. Boise 2018).”

The 2018 Martin v Boise decision, according to Lexusnexus’s law school case brief determined in summary, “An ordinance violates the Eighth Amendment insofar as it imposes criminal sanctions against homeless individuals for sleeping outdoors, on public property, when no alternative shelter is available to them…The Court held that the two city ordinances — a disorderly conduct ordinance and a camping ordinance, which criminalized sleeping outside on public property, whether bare or with a blanket or other basic bedding — violated the Eighth Amendment insofar as it imposed criminal sanctions against homeless individuals for sleeping outdoors, on public property, when no alternative shelter was available.” 

It is unclear if this case has any impact on Mr. Lloyd’s situation. We asked Caltrans, CHP, and Cal ICH and received no response.

Lloyd said he felt the action was illogical–the tiny home was more aesthetically appealing than a tent, it had a smaller footprint, and it was safer for him and for fire purposes. Was the issue for Caltrans his comfort? Lloyd said he was allowed to stay camping in the same spot, indicating to him that, “the real problem wasn’t my camping here, the problem for them was that I have a tiny home here.” He added, “I don’t know why [my having the basics] would bother anybody.”

Lloyd explained his current tent is in the same spot his tiny home once stood and said, “They are ok with the tent for some reason, but they don’t want me to be able to stay warm, and protected from the elements, animals, and safe from other people…The tiny home is 14 x 8. [ It] is smaller than the tent I’m in now.”

Lloyd said his campsite was graded and left uneven and appeared to have “been through a natural disaster” after Caltrans left with his tiny home, Lloyd explained, “[Caltrans] cut down approximately six live trees around the area I was camping, they dug up the ground with an excavator, left live trees laying all over the property. It looked like a tornado or earthquake came through the property after they left. I’m assuming they did this so I would not come back.”

Lloyd cleaned up the mess left after the tiny home removal, flattened some areas, made steps for safety, created ditches to prevent rain runoff accumulating in his tent, and he has been camping at the same location, with no issues from Caltrans since September.

Starting in mid-December, we reached out to several Caltrans officials and employees (including with public records requests) to obtain more information about the tiny home removal and the surrounding incidents, and are still waiting.

Caltrans released the following statement in the meantime;

Caltrans is responsible for the state’s transportation network, including protecting and maintaining the highway infrastructure. In situations where people experiencing homelessness are sheltering along the state right-of-way, Caltrans assesses the encampment site for immediate threats to safety and essential infrastructure. Threats may include modifications to structures that increase the risk of collapse; encampments that physically block traffic or pathways and put people in the encampments, the traveling public, and workers at risk of imminent danger; and the high probability of fires that can cause serious damage to highway infrastructure like overpasses that may result in deaths or serious injury to encamped individuals, the traveling public, and nearby residents.

When Caltrans prepares to remove an encampment that presents a threat to infrastructure or people, Caltrans’ Encampment Coordinators work to notify social service providers of the estimated closure time and date so that those providers can conduct outreach to connect people experiencing homelessness with essential services and available shelter or housing options. Caltrans also provides a notice posted at encampment sites at least 48 hours in advance of any encampment removal, depending on location and risk. People experiencing homelessness are asked to take their belongings and are notified that personal belongings of apparent value left behind will be brought to a nearby Caltrans maintenance yard for storage and later retrieval. Items of value are carefully bagged and transported by a contractor.

Caltrans partners with nonprofits and local government agencies including the County of Humboldt, the Humboldt Housing and Homeless Coalition, the Eureka Rescue Mission, the Arcata House/Annex, and Humboldt County Health and Human Services, which are funded, trained, and equipped to help people encamping on the state right-of-way to find alternative placement for shelter and/or housing. Caltrans is also a member of Cal ICH, which sets the state’s homelessness policy and coordinates across state agencies.

We asked Caltrans what risks were posed by the tiny home, what sort of inspection was done to determine said risks, how removing a tiny home aligns with the mission of Cal ICH to “prevent and end homelessness,” what services were offered beyond those Mr. Lloyd already has (Cal Fresh aka food stamps), if/why trees were cut and the land was graded, and if/why the tiny home was given away, in addition to various other follow up questions.

Caltrans replied via email, saying our request for information “[did] not comply with [California Public Records Act] CPRA,” adding, “Thanks again for reaching out to Caltrans regarding your story. Our previous statement addresses many of the questions you have and we do not have any additional comments at this time.”

We then followed up via four formal records requests to Caltrans, but after seven days were asked for more than the ten days typically allowed to respond to records requests. When we submitted an additional formal records request on February 6, for three basic facts regarding 1. the whereabouts of the tiny home, 2. how to get it back and, 3. if it was not possible to return it to Mr. Lloyd, why not?

We received a response that directed us to the same Caltrans employee we initially reached out to in December, and stated, “There are no records responsive to your request. If you have questions, please contact District 1’s [Public Information Officer] for Humboldt County.”

We then asked District 1’s Public Information Officer the same three questions about the tiny home’s location and how to retrieve it on February 14 via phone, and reminded them we requested this February 15, though we were not given a response in time for publishing. However, we were informed our records requests could take about four months to respond to.

Caltrans is a “Member” of The California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH)

Caltrans statement said they were “a member of Cal ICH,” which “sets the state’s homelessness policy and coordinates across state agencies.”

According to their website, “The California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH) was created by SB 1380 in 2017 as the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council to oversee the implementation of Housing First policies, guidelines, and regulations to reduce the prevalence and duration of homelessness in California.”

According to Law Insider, the Housing First model used by Cal ICH] means “a particular housing approach that moves the homeless individual or household immediately from the streets or homeless shelters to their own apartments instead of using intermediate levels of housing such as transitional housing programs and then providing Supportive Services in a manner that emphasizes a non-coercive approach…means the evidence-based model that uses housing as a tool, rather than a reward.”

The Cal ICH mission is to prevent and end homelessness in the state. The Action plan detailed the five action areas to accomplish their mission, and says,

“This Action Plan has been driven by a vision of a future in which homelessness in California is rare, because it is prevented whenever possible; brief, ended quickly whenever it does occur… and [is] a one-time experience, ended successfully the first time, so that no Californians experience homelessness repeatedly.”

We reached out to Russ Heimerich, the Deputy Secretary of Communications for Cal ICH who was made aware of Mr. Lloyd’s case, though was unable to make specific comments.

Though, Heimerich did outline their authority over, and the relationship between Caltrans and Cal ICH, saying,

“Cal ICH does not have any real authority over any other state dept., so we don’t put out guidance or directives to other depts. We have, in the past, discussed best practices with Caltrans and other departments to resolve encampments, but we don’t issue any directives to them, so all of your questions need to go back to Caltrans headquarters.”

Heimerich connected us with headquarters, but we were told they would need more time with our request for comment from the department as well. We received no response before publishing.

When we asked Heimerich what was considered “best practices” for Cal ICH and how Caltrans was made aware of said practices, he explained,

We’ve offered training in resolving homeless encampments in the past and those are in line essentially with what we have put in our best practices resolutions…Our recommendation is to always make it people centered… The way to deal with individuals experiencing homelessness in encampments, is to provide them with the housing and services they need to not only remove them from the encampments but provide an environment where they don’t need to go back to an encampment.

Lloyd said there were no “housing and services” offered to “remove [him] from the encampment [or] provide an environment where [he didn’t ] need to go back.”

The other agencies listed in Caltrans statement were not onsite and the only “services” offered were from a DHHS outreach worker according to Lloyd (and seen in the clips).

We asked DHHS what services were offered to Mr. Lloyd September 26, and to people in his situation, they wrote they could not specifically respond to Mr. Lloyd’s case, but that,

Generally, when we are outreaching to people in the situation you described, we find out what their needs are and if they would like us to connect them to services. Depending on the situation, we provide them with information on low-income housing and how to apply to replace needed personal documents—birth certificate, social security card, etc. We also assist them in applying for Medi-Cal and CalFresh, see what other services they may be eligible to and get them connected to Behavioral Health services if applicable.

Mr. Lloyd said the DHHS outreach worker (discussion begins around minute marker 6) was kind, but ineffective at their mission because he already has Calfresh, there is no shelter available in Southern Humboldt or to him because he has a dog, and he said no other alternative housing services or any means to end his homelessness was offered.

Lloyd expressed the primary issue to his homelessness was his home getting towed away during his interaction with DHHS, and the police presence, which he felt was distressing, unlawful, and unnecessary.

However the DHHS outreach worker said in the clip she had no authority over CHP, telling Lloyd she couldn’t ask them to leave as he requested, adding, “That’s not in my power, they’re doing their thing, we’re doing our thing… I’m not in a position to help [with the officers being there].”

Arrested for a Failure to Appear in Court, After Being Cited During Tiny Home Removal

On September 26, the same day Mr. Lloyd’s tiny home was taken, CHP Officer Clevenger confirmed, “He was cited and released to appear in court for trespassing and evading police officers.”

However Lloyd accidentally missed his court date. He explained, “I mistakenly confused my court date on November 16th thinking it was the 22nd instead, and by the time I figured out it was on the 16th it was the day before Thanksgiving and the court was closed. I couldn’t reschedule the hearing until later. My intention was to call the court clerk and resolve the matter, but one of the CHP officers present on September 26th just happened to be at my car at 9 am when I just returned from my holiday trip. Then they arrested me for missing court before I could contact the court clerk.”

Mr. Lloyd claimed that while checking into custody he overheard one “more senior officer” say to the “rookie officer” who arrested him that it was a “bullshit warrant” and Mr. Lloyd should not have been taken to jail for not appearing in court.

According to Mr. Lloyd, the officers at the jail “had to school the CHP officer on why you don’t bring people in on [a failure to appear] warrant…It’s a cite and release offense.” An arrest in Southern Humboldt takes the officer off the streets for a multiple hours as there are no jail facilities and the prisoner has to be transported to Eureka over an hour’s drive away. After filling out paperwork and completing the return trip, it isn’t uncommon for half a day to be expended by the officer.

Shawn Lloyd said he was immediately released from the county jail within an hour, and left in Eureka to get back to his camp about 67 miles away, on foot.

Coincidentally Mr. Lloyd actually wrote a letter to the editor to our news site on August 9, 2022 (right before he suffered a head injury), expressing he had issues with the hours and inaccessibility of the court clerk’s office due to the courthouses distance from his home.

Tiny Home Vanishes From Caltrans Maintenance Yard

A Caltrans worker told Lloyd they would hold the tiny home for 91 days in the beginning of part two of Mr. Lloyd’s video of the tiny home removal, giving him until December 26, 2022 to retrieve his home. This is stated on the notice to vacate as well.

According to Lloyd, Caltrans said “I had to contact CHP and arrange for them to meet me at the Caltrans yard in order to release my tiny home…I don’t understand why I would have to have law enforcement there, this is not a traffic related incident and retrieving my property doesn’t pose a danger to anyone.”

Lloyd explained his camp had a direct view of the Caltrans maintenance yard where his tiny home was located. Around Day 45 he noticed his tiny home was no longer parked there. Lloyd said, “I never got the opportunity to move it after day 45.”

Lloyd immediately walked to the maintenance yard across the street from his camp to inquire about the tiny house location and, “Caltrans told me they let somebody come pick up my home,” Lloyd explained.

He asked why they gave away his home, and according to Lloyd, Caltrans allegedly told him, “We released it to the person who delivered it.”

“But how does Caltrans know who delivered it?” Lloyd asked, “That never came up in discussion, how would they know?… The guy who delivered the tiny home was just hired help who had a truck… The tiny home belongs to me though.”

(Extended interview with Shawn Lloyd at his campsite here, video by Nichole Norris who is trying to teach herself how to video report and edit, bear with me)

“I laugh because it’s so ridiculous,” he said. “According to my research, this is unclassified public land… where I am legally allowed to be. For Caltrans to hold [my tiny home] at their maintenance yard and then release it to somebody it doesn’t belong to in 45 days, after giving me 91….I’m confused and dumbfounded…They basically stole my tiny home and gave it to someone else. I would go to jail if I did the same thing.”

Lloyd claims Caltrans did not give him the name of the person who took the tiny home, his tools and surveillance system from their maintenance yard, nor discuss a way for him to retrieve his property. As detailed above, Caltrans did not reply to our questions about the property.

CHP Officer Clevenger said they know nothing about the tiny home’s current location, and reminded this reporter they were only there for security.

Alternatives? Solutions?

When asked about the prevalence of the camping on state land issue locally, CHP Officer Clevenger responded, “For our area we do have a certain number of people camping on the highways. We don’t experience as much of a problem as the metropolitan cities…We do have a small number of people camping on state property.”

According to the most recent Point in Time (PIT) count we can locate which is performed by about 160 volunteers, and conducted in late January every two years (except during COVID in 2020), 1,309 people struggled with houselessness in Humboldt County last year. The last report found 325 unhoused people in Southern Humboldt District Two.

Many housing rights advocates have long said the PIT process does not provide accurate results due to the timing, reliance on volunteers, location of campers, and lack of trust and/or willingness for the unhoused to speak with people oftentimes.

In a recent article called ‘Where do you want me to go?’ Tents, Trash, and Trauma in Eureka,” fellow RHBB reporter Ryan Hutson, spoke with Tiffany Laffoon, a member of the newly formed group HHEAL which says it offers, “Homeless Expertise And Leadership.” 

Laffoon laid out some of the PIT counts inadequacies in the article, saying,

The PIT count is taken during 1 single day every 2 years by counting the number of homeless people visible from roads or open public spaces. Many of our unhoused folks stay out of sight, off the beaten path much of the time. Furthermore, it is done in January when it is often cold and rainy and folks are even more likely to retreat out of sight.People living in their cars are also missing from the PIT count, but they are lining practically every street in Eureka.

Based on estimates from a number of direct service providers, the actual homeless population numbers are thought to be about twice as many as the most recent PIT count – over 3,000 people…And in direct service, we are seeing the numbers of folks seeking services grow every day. With all the millions of dollars being funneled into Humboldt County, the housing crisis is getting worse, not better. The actions we have been taking to address [it] are clearly not solutions.

Southern Humboldt Housing Opportunities does hold a “warming station” that operates from 12-4 p.m. every Tuesday at the Redway Baptist Church on Redway Drive currently, but there is no overnight shelter in Southern Humboldt. Though there are some options about sixty miles away in the County seat.

Brian Hall, the Director of Eureka Rescue Mission said he had forty-two beds available on February 6th, and, “I know Betty [Chinn] has something but we take the majority of homeless clients.”

Hall said during the month of September 2022 when Mr. Lloyd’s tiny home was removed; they had about 20 beds available, however he explained there are unfortunately no dogs allowed, which ruled this option out for Lloyd given he had to take care of Molly. The location is over 60 miles from Lloyd’s community, not to mention he does not have reliable transportation or the resources to get there nightly. Those who use the shelters typically check out in the mornings as well, so he would have no place to put his property during the day without his camp.

Given the temperatures and prominence of homeless people in Eureka alone, some who recently suffered tragic deaths in attempts to escape the weather, we asked if he knew what the primary inhibitors were that prevented folks from obtaining shelter at the Mission, beyond the pet policy and location (particularly for those from Southern Humboldt and other rural parts of the county).

Hall said he was uncertain about how many people came from Southern Humboldt specifically, and wrote, “Oftentimes what I see is many of the homeless folks dont want to be around a lot of people.”

In response to an inquiry about the legality of Lloyd’s camping location, CHP Officer Clevenger responded, “For that I cannot comment… I would defer the legality of that to Caltrans,” adding, “No person should be on the roadway, highway or freeway.”

We asked if Lloyd (and others in his position) could lawfully park his tiny home and/or camp elsewhere. Officer Clevenger replied that possibly “on state property that would be allowed but once again you’d have to check with our legal dept. with that.”

This reporter asked Clevenger if he had ideas about a resolution to the issue, and Officer Clevenger replied, “I wouldn’t know what the solution is…There are [health and human] resources in Redway that can assist, but there’s not a lot of services down in this area that provide housing and things like that.”

Note: Since we began researching this story in early December and awaiting responses from various agencies, Shawn Lloyd has since been incarcerated on charges related to his “trespassing and evading police” September 26, 2022, in addition to new allegations. He should be considered innocent, as no allegation has been proven in a court of law.

This reporter is now working on the case separately for the Law Offices of Eugene Denson. We will update you here on RHBB on all the case happenings, the fate of Mr. Lloyd, and his tiny home when we are able to disclose more.

Cal ICH Quarterly Meeting on Homelessness Solutions with Gavin Newsom

If you have a comment to make to your representatives and the Cal ICH agency on homelessness in the state, you can join Governor Gavin Newsome at a California Interagency Council On Homelessness Quarterly Council meeting Monday, February 27, 2023 1:00pm – 4:00pm (estimated), via videoconference and telephone.

The agenda lists items up for discussion:
-Proposed FY 23-24 Budget Homelessness Investments
-Cal ICH Statewide Homelessness Assessment (AB 140 Report)
-Action Plan for Preventing and Ending Homelessness – Progress Report
-Federal Strategic Plan Discussion
-General Public Comment (“3:50pm – 4:00pm (10 minutes)”)

To join this meeting by videoconference:

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_q7E0wQ0KTMmNdK2xuU_a7A

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Registration is available at any time up until and during the meeting.

To join this meeting by telephone:

+1(669) 444-9171 Webinar ID: 826 8175 5614