Residents and outreach groups urge quicker county action on riverbed evictions, showers and supportive housing

Public commenters at the Orange County Board of Supervisors' meeting on June 27 pressed the board to move faster on services for people displaced from riverbed encampments and to prioritize permanent supportive housing options.

Mark Richard Daniels, who said he was born and raised in Anaheim, urged supervisors to meet with Nancy West about the "Al Fresco Gardens" proposal and said the plan could be deployed countywide as a rapid-response housing option. "It's a very smart plan," he said. Armando Olvera, director of Showers of Blessings, described a mobile street ministry that provides shower trailers, clothing and meals and asked the county to coordinate with grassroots providers and to make permitting for outreach vehicles easier.

Several speakers described rapid eviction notices and short timelines that they said left people with no time to collect belongings or access services. Ron Hernandez said he received a three‑day notice and that evictions forced families and women and children to relocate: "If you get a 72 hour notice, you lose your mortgage or whatever. A lot of people won't survive it." Janine Robbins highlighted what she said was roughly $692 million in "available resources" and urged the board to direct a larger share of funding to homeless services than the recent allocations she called a "drop in the bucket."

Representatives of faith‑based and volunteer outreach programs, including Reverend Dion Thomas and others, said showers and basic services were transformational for people on the streets and called for the county to expand and expedite those services. One speaker, citing county records, said there have been dozens of deaths tied to encampment clearings and hot weather and urged the board to buy property for permanent supportive housing.

Chair and staff took public questions about timing. Richard Sanchez of the Health Care Agency told supervisors the county expected to finalize service agreements within about a week and to begin services "first week in July," and that basic‑needs items could include showers and added water resources but that some elements required partner coordination.

The board did not vote on a new homeless program at the meeting but received repeated public pleas to link implementation timelines to earlier June actions, and to ensure contract terms produce showers, restrooms and coordinated outreach rather than only short‑term displacement.