We at “Friends of the Cabin Village” project firmly support the selection of the Public Works Yard to build the Cabin Village.

A few facts about what comprises the project:

• 30 sustainably built homes constructed by a local builder
• Installation of native trees and plants by a local landscape architect
• A city owned lot, invisible from the street and secluded for the residents
• Acutely low income housing for our Ojai neighbors
• Two thirds of the renters are elderly
• Supportive services are provided by Help of Ojai and County Behavioral Health Professionals
• The miracle of a $12.7 million grant to build this model project

Our reasons, arguments, and detailed facts have already been presented in this petition.  We thank you all for your support by signing this petition!

Often discussions on this topic leave out the human stories of those who live in OTT. Each person’s story and circumstances are different.  We want to provide some information about a few OTT residents to provide some balance on the subject and show that people are at the heart of this issue, and that the compassion that Ojai is known for, is exemplified in each of these stories:

KRISTEN WINGATE:

Kristen Wingate graduated from Nordhoff High School in 1989. Today, she lives in a tent at City Hall with her bulldog, Roscoe. Locals may remember Wingate from Ace Hardware, where she worked as a cashier. She left the job due to a spinal fusion surgery and went on state disability, she explained. During that time, Wingate’s long-term rental housing was sold — she was paying $1,400 a month. “[State disability] only goes for a year. And then if you're going to be out longer, they tell you to apply for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI),” she explained.

Wingate’s SSDI application was denied, and she’s appealing the decision. Due to her disability, she is still unable to work. Without disability benefits, she has no income.

“It's embarrassing to be out here,” she confessed. I asked her what she wants the community to know about her experience.  “Everybody automatically assumes we’re all drug addicts and it's not the case. This is the first time I've ever experienced homelessness and it's not easy. People take for granted [things like] how do you wash your clothes? Where do you brush your teeth? Are you able to shower?”

MELISSA BALDING: 

Melissa has been a long time younger resident of OTT and has been active keeping the site maintained. Andra Belknap ran into her recently.  She now has a job at the Valero gas station, and shared excitedly that she now has a car! She told her last year that she fell into homelessness after she lost her car (she worked for a food delivery service).

DANIELLE ALSTOT:

Danielle Alstot, 38, lives at City Hall with her partner, Josh, 35.   Alstot works part-time at the Ojai Valley Athletic Club as a housekeeper but, “I can't afford $1,300 a month for a room in someone's house,” she said. Josh has an income too — he works at Taco Bell.

Alstot — who is a passionate artist — moved to Oak View with her family when she was two years old. Her first memory, she said, is of that house in Oak View. She graduated from Ventura High School in 2004. Alstot and Josh have lived at OTT for the past four months, she said, alongside their two cats.

JAMIE NELSON: 

Jaime Nelson, 74, raised two children in Ojai. Her grandchild attends OUSD. Once her kids became adults, Nelson began splitting rent payments with her daughter and her daughter’s boyfriend. When the couple broke up, Nelson was left in the home on her own, unable to afford the rent. She then decamped to Texas, where her son lives. “A lot of bad things happened in Texas,” Nelson disclosed. “[And] there wasn’t anywhere to go when I came back [to Ojai],” she said.

“I’m very thankful to be here,” Nelson told me, sitting in the coffee room with her cane in hand and dog at her side, “there’s a lot of sweethearts here.”

Nelson’s daughter, who works locally, visits her often.

Nelson became tearful when she reflected on how the grant funding will impact her life. “I've been [in Ojai] like 30 years, but I wasn't born here,” she said, “But it always felt more like a home anyway… And now it's my home.” 

These stories were developed by local journalist Andra Belknap, and re-published with her permission. Support her on Substack at  Andra Belknap on SunStack