DAVIS, CA – Five years after the City of Davis opened its Daytime Respite Center to provide essential services to the city’s unhoused population, city officials presented an informational report to the City Council summarizing recent community feedback, program changes, and next steps.
The report stems from a March 2 neighborhood meeting and a January 2025 community survey that drew strong responses from nearby residents in Davis Manor, Huntwood, and Old East Davis.
Originally launched in early 2020 as a pilot program, the Respite Center was intended to offer a safe, daytime location for unsheltered individuals to access basic resources like showers, food, case management, and storage. The center, located on L Street, quickly became a key hub for outreach during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also provided a safe location for vaccinations and health care referrals during the public health emergency. In the post-pandemic period, its role continued under the management of CommuniCare-Ole and now the Downtown Streets Team (DST).
However, concerns about the Center’s long-term location and neighborhood impacts have escalated in recent years. Many residents believed the center would be temporary.
According to the March 2 meeting summary, participants expressed “understanding that the Respite Center was intended to be a ‘pilot project’ that would be evaluated after some period of time and possibly relocated.”
That sentiment was echoed in the January 2025 neighborhood survey, which received 149 responses. The top five increases observed by respondents included unhoused individuals (131), trash and littering (126), yelling or violent language (122), general safety concerns (120), and encampments (117). Respondents also highlighted vandalism, public urination, and damage to private property among the concerns they felt had risen since the Center’s establishment.
When asked for suggestions, 42 respondents called for moving or removing the Respite Center, 35 asked for more police patrols, and 24 requested additional resources and staff for the facility. Others asked for expanded hours, more overnight shelter options, or better communication from the City.
City staff noted that the Davis Manor neighborhood had been particularly affected, as the Center’s location is near residences, schools, and churches. One recurring concern was the movement of unsheltered individuals into adjacent streets during nighttime hours, when the Center is closed. The March 2 meeting summary indicated that attendees “cited increased property crime, disturbances at night… and a feeling of being unsafe when walking past the Respite Center.”
Since that meeting, City staff and DST have implemented a series of changes aimed at improving conditions around the site. In April, Vernon McZeek became the new onsite Program Manager. With over a decade of experience working with unsheltered populations, including leadership of a Project Roomkey site in West Sacramento, McZeek has brought stronger oversight and field-based coordination to the facility.
The Respite Center now includes three case managers and a minimum of two staff members on site at all times. These staff provide peer counseling and a wide range of services, including housing referrals, medical care access, storage, and hygiene support. Staff work closely with the City’s Homeless Outreach Team, sometimes accompanying them in the field and supporting operations at Paul’s Place.
Downtown Streets Team members have also taken an active role in maintaining the appearance and safety of the surrounding neighborhood. According to the report, DST staff conduct early morning cleanups, engage with individuals loitering outside the Center, and encourage participation in volunteer activities. “The Respite Center and surrounding areas, including near the car wash, have seen a noticeable improvement in cleanliness and overall appearance,” the report states.
In addition, DST has initiated outreach to local businesses to create employment partnerships and match unsheltered individuals with job opportunities. Staff plan to continue building relationships in the Davis Manor area, offering a point of contact for concerns and working to rebuild community trust.
City staff noted that these changes appear to be having an impact. Police calls related to the Respite Center have declined from eight per month to three—a 62 percent reduction—since DST took over program management.
Regular police patrols remain in place, and the Police Department is preparing to launch a Community Policing and Problem-Solving Unit (COPPS) in July. This new unit will address persistent issues in public areas, conduct environmental safety assessments, and focus on deterrence strategies for crime and nuisance behavior.
To further support revitalization efforts, the City has launched a Façade Revitalization & Accessibility Grant Program funded by the federal Community Development Block Grant. Zone 1, which includes East Davis and Davis Manor, will receive preferential eligibility. Up to $100,000 is available for 2025, with grants awarded to businesses seeking to improve the appearance and accessibility of their buildings.
Looking ahead, City officials say they will continue monitoring and refining the Respite Center’s operations. A mural is still planned for the exterior of the facility, intended to foster “a sense of community, promote healing and well-being, and empower individuals to rebuild their lives,” according to the report.
The City also noted its intent to bring a more comprehensive analysis of homelessness services to the Council this fall. That report will assess duplication of services, gaps in care, and coordination between existing programs such as the Respite Center, Paul’s Place, and other community-based providers.
The broader conversation about homelessness in Davis remains ongoing—and contentious. While some residents voiced sympathy for the Center’s mission, many continue to question whether it should remain in a residential neighborhood.
According to the March report, attendees shared that “the conversation was healthy and good, but also that there was much to be done.”
“City staff noted that these changes appear to be having an impact. Police calls related to the Respite Center have declined from eight per month to three—a 62 percent reduction….”
I do not know how these numbers were derived, but this is not even remotely accurate as to the impact on the surrounding neighborhood. Police and medical calls to the vicinity of 5th and L occur nearly daily.
Overall this report glosses over the major problems caused by the presence of the respite center.
The respite center needs to be moved or closed. Increased funding will probably be necessary. It’s unfortunate that this report seems to suggest the closure is not being considered.
“Police and medical calls to the vicinity of 5th and L occur nearly daily.”
A quick look at https://www.cityofdavis.org/city-hall/police-department/daily-activity-log proves that to not be the case.
“the Police Department receives, on average, three (3) calls for service a month.”
What’s peculiar about this assertion is that the chart attached to the report (page 8) indicates the following numbers of “transient related calls per month”:
Feb 2025 26
Jan 2025 37
Dec 2024 43
Nov 2024 40
Oct 2024 36
Sept 2024 38
Aug 2024 35
July 2024 26
June 2024 52
May 2024 26
April 2024 24
Mar 2024 37
Feb 2024 50
Jan 2024 25
Dec 2023 36
Nov 2023 38
Oct 2023 32
Sept 2023 51
Aug 2023 63
July 2023 66
June 2023 85
May 2023 66
April 2023 61
Mar 2023 43
Feb 2023 30
Jan 2023 23
“Note: This table reflects ALL HOMELESSNESS RELATED CALLS FOR SERVICE in the general radius of the Respite Center.”
This is exactly the outcome I had predicted — the City is desperate at all costs to keep the Respite Center at its current location. So everything is focusing on trying to make the Respite Center digestible where is, rather than moving it out of our neighborhoods, which was the main message the City got from the participants of the public meeting. We all know the City dumps everything into District 3. Go ahead, call me NIMBY to my face . . . you posh Davis suburbanites who wanker on about ‘but where will they go-oh!’, but never will it be to Districts 1,2,4 or 5. The City listened, we said move it, the City said, “We’ll put up a mural, because they are your neighbors. Deal with it”.
” . . . in the general radius of the Respite Center.”
That’s a squishy term: “general radius”. Is this defined? I ask because as ‘issues’ are ‘fixed’ near the Respite Center, the ‘general radius’ of the effects of those who can’t stay there at night increases, as they are pushed outward.
From article: “Many residents believed the center would be temporary.”
Many residents apparently engage in self-delusion.
From article: “A mural is still planned for the exterior of the facility, intended to foster “a sense of community, promote healing and well-being, and empower individuals to rebuild their lives,” according to the report.
Right – I’m sure that will work wonders. Turns out all they needed was a mural.
“Right – I’m sure that will work wonders. Turns out all they needed was a mural.”
I wonder how much this amazing life changing mural will cost?
I don’t recall any mention of it being temporary
The initial location of the respite center was on 2nd Street below the Pelz bike overcrossing. A group of residents from South Davis protested this as this would expose their Jr High School children to the homeless when they biked over the crossing on their way to Harper Jr. High. The next location was L Street. The idea was this was a pilot project to last one year and then the site would move to other parts of town on a rotation. The site became permanent over COVID. When the site came up for renewal, all sorts of promises are made to stop the loitering (and drinking and drug use) outside the center. All of these promises are broken. Neighboring businesses either went out of business (the car wash) or had to install fencing, make frequent calls to the police, trespass warnings, etc. There is sometimes a concerted effort and it gets better for a time and then the situation deteriorates. The mural on the building was an Odd Fellows idea. The Davis Odd Fellows formed a committee to hire an artist to design a mural and have community members help paint it. These type of murals are all over the downtown area. The committee asked the City for permission and then all sorts of obstacles were created – the Design had to be approved by the City, people in the neighborhood had to be on the committee or have major input, etc. The Odd Fellows have abandoned the project at present – too many cooks, too many obstacles for a small volunteer committee.
Since many unhoused individuals suffer from substance abuse, why put a respite center across the street from a liquor store? Just wondering. There must be more appropriate places. The resistance by residents to having it moved into their neighborhood is the truest form on NIMBYism
“The resistance by residents to having it moved into their neighborhood is the truest form on NIMBYism”
Just about everyone becomes a NIMBY when it’s their neighborhood that might suffer the consequences of a homeless center.
Can you blame them?
That’s part of the problem, services need to go somewhere
Let me tell you where ‘somewhere’ is DG: somewhere ELSE.
Any facility where services are provided needs to be staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
There are places to put homeless services, such as the new one on the outskirts of Woodland (see link, below). I’ve been there, and would be willing to live in it myself if I didn’t already have a home.
You could probably fit a hundred of these developments inside of Woodland, alone. The problem is money, not space.
Since homeless services are usually provided by the county, it makes sense for Woodland (the county seat) to provide them. It probably doesn’t make much sense for each individual city to operate their own homeless programs, outside of those provided by counties. For those who believe that Davis should contribute more, I’d suggest that they do so through the county.
But adult “day care services” don’t make much sense, without a place for homeless people to live in. (Without also providing a place to live in, that’s just ASKING for problems.)
https://www.kcra.com/article/woodland-homeless-housing-complex-california/28681610
It shouldn’t be the civic duty of the residents of Davis Manor to put up with crack pipes and syringes on their lawns, loud screams at night and urine soaked sidewalks. Just saying that my friends in the neighborhood are tired of having the unhoused crisis being concentrated in their area. I’m sure once a respite center popped up in Lake Alhambra, services would be handled quite differently.