Northridge homeless encampment cleared out; 16 people taken to temporary housing

NORTHRIDGE, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- City crews moved in on Thursday to clear out a homeless encampment that's been in Northridge for years. In total, 16 people were taken off the side of the railroad tracks and given a roof over their heads.

Inside Safe is a city program that reaches out to homeless individuals to offer them an alternative to living on the streets.

"How am I feeling this morning? I'm hungry, sleepy," said Sadot Garnica, who has called the area near the railroad tracks at Balboa Boulevard and Roscoe Boulevard home for 13 years.

He's one of the 16 people who opted to get on a city-provided bus and be taken to shelters, hotels or temporary housing to start a new chapter in their lives. After everyone was gone, crews got to work cleaning up their belongings.

"I'm just looking forward to moving to another future, ahead of the game, to live somewhere better. Because living like this is very bad," Garnica said. "I try to move forward, and make sure I move forward, because if I don't, what happens after that? You stumble and fall and fall backwards. We need to get out of here. People need to help us with the resources for jobs."

Teams have gone to more than 100 homeless encampments in Los Angeles through the Inside Safe program. They talk to the unhoused, informing them that they have options to get off the streets.

"It's a mixed bag. Sometimes it's really easy, because there's a lot of folks that just, they're here and they don't want to be, they want something different, and we're able to offer them something better than what they have," said Annetta Kidane, the Senior Director of Inside Safe. "If you lived near a railroad and you had to suffer through ants and rats, and you don't know where your next meal is coming from, you don't have medical attention, you don't have a bed, you don't have the simple things that you and I enjoy on a daily basis... I think most people are jumping at the bit to be Inside Safe."

Since 2022, Inside Safe says it has brought just over 5,000 people to housing. That's a portion of the more than 20,000 people the city says it has placed in housing.

Garnica says he's hoping that by opting into the Inside Safe program, he'll land a job to get back on his feet.

"Make sure there's room for me in the car, because I'll hang onto the bumper, I swear to God. I don't care, because I'm going, I'm going. I don't care, I'm going," Garnica said.