City of Banning

Banning's homeless population is growing and adversely impacts the entire community.

City staff and volunteers have been actively cleaning up illegal encampments during the past twelve months. Typically, a group of 6 - 8 staff and volunteers, including tenants at Opportunity Village, gather once per week to break down illegal encampments, collect stolen shopping carts, and clean up left behind material. One of the most significant contributors to the accumulation of trash in illegal encampments is community members who drop off unwanted used items (clothing, dishes, furniture, etc). These items end up left behind and scattered for our staff and volunteers to clean up. COMMUNITY MEMBERS ARE ASKED TO MAKE DONATIONS TO LOCAL NON-PROFITS; NOT DIRECTLY TO UNHOUSED INDIVIDUALS.

Contact with homeless individuals routinely involves an offer of assistance, including a bed at Opportunity Village. If homeless refuse a shelter bed, they are informed that camping is illegal in Banning and they will be arrested if they are trespassing, loitering or camping. Unhoused individuals who request shelter at Opportunity Village are screened and staff works with them during an intake process to make sure they are a fit for Opportunity Village. Once an individual is assigned a unit at Opportunity Village, staff works with the tenants to develop an action plan intended to move the individual from Opportunity Village to independent living, which may include drug/alcohol treatment, behavior health services, employment, and other forms of assistance. Since Opportunity Village opened, more than a dozen individuals have been placed into housing.

What are your observations during the past twelve months?

Opportunity Village will provide temporary emergency shelter beds for up to 40 homeless individuals who want to take the necessary steps to get back on their feet. For those who do not want to improve their situation, aggressive action will be taken remove illegal encampments and move those individuals out of Banning.