In SGV Connect 138, Streetsblog talked to Benito Flores and others in the Reclaimers movement who were helping him resist eviction in the Caltrans owned property he was living in. The Reclaimers are a group of formerly unhoused people who moved into Caltrans-owned properties in 2020, both to put a roof over their heads during a public health crisis, and to draw attention to the amount of publicly owned housing that was unoccupied during a nationwide housing crisis.
After losing several court cases, Flores and other reclaimers were given a choice: move out of their house and work with the homeless authority to get new housing, or stay and risk forcible eviction. Flores chose to stay, and sadly passed away after falling from a treehouse he built as a hideaway for when sheriff deputies or state police came.
In this episode, SBLA interviews two reclaimers who chose the first option: leaving their reclaimed homes and working with HACLA - the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles.
The interview features Marta Escudero and Cecilia Lopez, members of the Reclaimers movement. In 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown, they occupied vacant Caltrans homes in El Sereno, inspired by the Moms for Housing movement. Both describe how displacement and the housing crisis pushed them to act, with support from groups like ACCE (Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment), Eastside Café, and HACLA.
Initially granted two-year leases, Marta and Cecilia later faced eviction efforts and legal battles. Marta negotiated with HACLA to secure Section 8 housing in Boyle Heights, where she now lives with her daughters. She emphasizes the importance of staying in her community for family support and schooling needs. Cecilia, however, remains unhoused, still couch-surfing despite promises of permanent housing, and expresses frustration with HACLA’s delays and broken commitments.
For Streetsblog’s complete five-year coverage for the Reclaimer movement, click here. A transcript of the interview is available below the podcast.
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Marta - Hello. My name is Marta Escudero.
Cecilia - Hello. My name is Cecilia Lopez.
Damien - ...and I'm Damian Newton. Nice to meet you. We should have done that when we got here instead of waiting for the recording. Anyway, we're in the El Sereno office of Councilwoman Jurado, and we're talking today with two of the Reclaimers. This is mostly for me when I'm listening to it five years from now, going, "Wait, what? It was in the office?"
So let's start the interview how we've started most of the interviews by just sort of recapping the beginning for anyone that's listening for the first time, because and for anyone that's listened before. I always think this is such a dramatic and unique story. It's always worth repeating in the words of the people that lived it. So why don't we just start with what a Reclaimer is and what happened in 2020
Marta - So at least for my side of the story, because there's multiple sides, I found out that ACE and LACLA, LATU, DSA were meeting months before. Well, during that time, I was couch surfing with my daughters, and I was falling into despair because there was no housing. And then I saw Moms for Housing on the TV, and I wanted to do something similar, inspired by these black moms that took housing up north, and so I started reaching out to people and letting people know what I wanted to do. And my friend Colleen, which she's amazing, she's the one that, like, really motivated me to do this.
She gave me the contact for Amy Scherer from ACE, and that's when I found out they had been planning this for a while. And then at the same time, Angela from Eastside Cafe put something on Facebook, and I reached out to her, and then they linked together. At that same time, Ruby Gordillo was doing canvassing of empty houses through ACE, and found these houses in El Sereno as well. So it was just all kind of meshed together. And we began planning, I believe in December I joined and we began planning more thoroughly, like in January, and then covid hit, and it was right in the lockdown.
We were even thinking, "Should we do it? Should we wait?" And then we said, "let's just do it." And it was right. It was just pure luck. It was right on the weekend of the lockdown. And so everything was in chaos, and the governor just let us slide. I think if it wasn't for that, I believe if it wasn't for that, we probably would have been taken out.
Cecilia - Definitely... all hog tied.
Damien - So with the support of all these groups, the two of you moved in separately to different houses in El Sereno, both in El Sereno, because I know there were other places that ... okay... both in El Sereno. You moved into houses during the first weekend of the lockdown. I don't think I ever put that together in my head that it was,
Cecilia - It was March 14, I believe.
Damien - Yeah, yeah. So you moved in. I know there was some, some action to try and get you out, but the governor's office actually stepped in and said, you know, let them stay. There's a crisis, and…
Cecilia - We had sent letters first, because we were having a rough time in the beginning with CHP.
Damien - That'd be the Highway Patrol, because these were Caltrans owned properties.
Caltrans owned these properties because they were in the right of way of a freeway expansion that they wanted to do the 710, which was canceled in 2017, or 18, I believe. And then they still own the properties, although they're starting to divest the ones in Pasadena, I know they're being - and South Pasadena - those are being turned into the properties are, I believe, being demolished and turned into affordable housing, but the people that moved into them are not they may have an option to rent into the affordable housing, but there's no homeowner option that had been discussed when Caltrans bought these houses, like way back in the 70s. The 1970s.
Okay, so the originally you were given one year leases, if I remember correctly,
Marta - two-year leases.
Damien - And so you stayed in there, then through 2022, and then there were legal efforts to evict and not evict, and tenants rights were claimed, and all that stuff went to court. Right?
Marta - Yes, because we were given a two-year lease and the HACLA was not providing the housing we needed and were asking for, because people have individual needs, I especially requested to be geographically close, because I'm a single mother and I have all my support system here, plus my daughters, go to special schools.
They're unique. There's people from Santa Monica, from South LA. They go to these schools from the valley, because they're so unique that I can't find them anywhere else, and I didn't want to have to go through that commute. It's exhausting, and so I really fought for that to be included in HACLA. They think that anywhere is okay, and I don't agree with that. I feel that people have unique needs, and housing should provide that for us as well.
Cecilia - I feel the same way, except I don't have kids, but my roots are here. I was born here, and so that's all I know. I am used to the area. I'm comfortable being here, and I feel safe here.
Damien - So the legal actions around that I know went on for a couple years with eviction efforts, efforts to oppose in court, as I understand it, the legal efforts were sort of exhausted sometime in 2024. One of the reasons we're doing this interview is we did the one with Benito and Roberto a couple months ago. Benito, when offered something after the court cases expired, chose to stay in his house and fight eviction. Other people made different decisions when HACLA made offers to them for housing. So I guess I'm get both of you, I'm assuming, took the HACLA offer --
Cecilia -- but I think we're bypassing a place here because the first two years we were living in the house that we began...
Damien - The reclaimed house?
Cecilia - Right and then during that time, after the two years, we were asked to move because the houses supposedly needed to be inspected. And then were given another lease for another two years into the new home, which was still in the Caltrans homes.
Damien - So you moved from one home to a different one. It's still that Caltrans owns properties in 2022ish.
Cecilia - But that was only because they needed us to sign the lease, the agreement that none of us were really happy about, but we really didn't have a choice to not sign.
Damien - Okay. So the original two years, and then there was another two years in a different house. And so it was when that expired. And the legal options were out. And then HACLA came to you guys with a new offer, which I'm guessing, since we're here, you both took, could you describe sort of what that offer was like? You know, when we talked to Benito, he was not happy with the offer, but it was for, I believe, four years. A four year lease?
Marta - We all had different--
Damien - Okay, everyone was offered a different lease
Marta - Based on our circumstances.
Cecilia - I think they offered him four years to live in a hotel, and he was not happy about that.
Mart - I wouldn't have taken that deal either, but I do think there was room for negotiation, because that's what I did with HACLA. I was offered some housing at first, and I said, No. I kept saying, No, this is what I want, and you need to look for this. And I also sought outside support so I could push what I wanted, and I got something fairly good in the end.
The eviction process is horrible, and I already knew I wasn't gonna win legally. We didn't get these houses legally in the first place, we weren't gonna get them through the legal system.
I already had that in mind. I was going to get evicted at some point, and so I needed to prepare for that. And it was a very stressful time, and I couldn't be in despair for my daughters. And so I needed to be in a place where I could be able to think and just keep going. I felt I couldn't stay. I wanted to avoid as much as possible, doing eviction defense. I already had a plan to do it, if that was the last resort.
First of all, I didn't want to bring violence to my community. Second of all, I also have a lot of vulnerable people in my life that are immigrants that need more care, and so I want to be well because I can't pour from my empty cup, and also because of my daughters. And so I was really pushing for HACLA to do something that was good for us, in order for me and my daughters to be well. And I had supporters that pushed because first they kept, like giving me less money or trying to locate me in different areas, and I kept with supporters, phone banking, emailing, and I was able to get a pretty decent deal.
It's in Boyle Heights, which is close to me, and I've lived in Boyle Heights. Before it's section eight, we actually have more room inside. And it's, yeah, amazing public housing, which I think needs to be more of, and that's why I took that deal.
Damien - So this is an open ended lease, though it doesn't expire in a certain number of years.
Cecilia - That's what we were promised, exactly.
Marta - I got what HACLA had promised me in the first place, and I couldn't say, No, my daughters are thriving there, and I really like that place, and now I'm able to offer more support. I'm also part of another organization, J Town Action and Solidarity, that works with unhoused communities and anti gentrification work. And I want to, I want to be there for the most vulnerable people, and now I'm able to do that, that I'm better. I know I was spiraling during that time, and 50 knows I was in grad school, I was working. I'm a single mom. I was facing eviction. I was like, in this or I was just like, it was too much. That's a lot.
Damien - I've done many of those things, but not all at once, and mercifully, have never had to worry about eviction. But that's, that's that's a full plate, and now you feel like you're on the other side the HACLA came through with it, with the promise that a print gave to you, and as a result, you're able to now start giving back to or continue giving back to your community in a different way.
Marta - Yeah and HACLA shouldn't just do this to be because I'm not special. HACLA should do this to everybody, because everyone deserves not to be displaced, to stay in their community and to have equitable housing.
Damien - And I think that's a big point about staying in the community. When we've done homelessness coverage. We did a series back before the pandemic. The goal of that series was to go and interview and visit different places that offered different steps in the process for someone who was experiencing homelessness to fully house. So we visited, you know, temporary shelters and interim housing and that place up in Glendale, Ascencia and stuff like that. And what we heard when we talked to the people, was like, Yes, I'm very grateful to have this roof over my head. But you know, the people I know are 20 miles away and 20 miles away in LA County is a real barrier to being able to have any sort of interaction, much less still be part of the community.
Marta - They're isolated. They're a lot of them are in carceral states in shelters as well, and so and displaced from their communities is very isolating, and people with mental health issues,
Cecilia - They don't feel safe, and they pass.
Marta - So we need better alternatives, for sure.
Damien - So what's your experience with your current housing situation?
Cecilia - I am still unhoused. I was also promised permanent housing. I was offered. We started to go through the paperwork, and then, for some reason, it just stopped. I continued with my eviction and, well, that was not easy, like she says, and that was just an awful long experience. But I'm glad it's over, but I also am not housed since, since then, I've been couch surfing again, like I was in the beginning, and so I'm very displeased, but I'm still working on it.
Damien - Is HACLA still involved?
Cecilia - Yes, because they're the only ones that I could be reaching out to, but I believe, also not to go back on what Benito was offered. And I think that was why he was so very upset, is because we all were promised and offered permanent housing. So when they offered him four years in the hotel, of course, he was upset.
Damien - Benito challenged us to reach out to HACLA to see if we could get a response as to what happened, and we got a very legalese - we did - We got a very legalese response. I imagine if we reached out on your behalf, it would be the same thing we can't discuss. You know, you know exactly.
Cecilia - That's their good excuse.
Damien - Yeah, I imagine it might actually be almost the same statement with, like, two or three, you know, things where they changed pronouns and changed his name to your name. But do you, I guess, regret or the decision not to go the same route he did as far as, like, a physical resistance of eviction? Or do you---
Cecilia - I would have never gone that route. I would have never, ever gone that route, ever, and I feel bad that he did.
Damien - So what do you see as a potential next step? Is it hoping the HACLA process works out?
Cecilia - Exactly, I still have hope.
Damien - Yeah, and so we talked to someone. I talked to someone last night on the phone, before this, and she can't be with us today for the interview, and when she was. It gave a very similar story to the one we've heard today. And she was saying that she is in housing now. She took a HACLA deal, but she misses her old place and preferred it. And she actually was saying, like, if my message, if we were to do the interview, my message would be, you know, put me back in my old house, if that were and it's probably not an option, because they probably have plans for that area, but if there was, area. But if there was an option to go back to the house that you had been in--
Cecilia - I knew they would come to my house to do inspections and tell me, would you please stop doing, you know, like renovations and repairs on the house? And I said, Well, I'm here. I want to enjoy my house, and I want to make sure that it's safe and that it's livable and presentable, if anything. And they would just continue to tell me, you know you're never going to live here forever. And I said, I know that, but while I'm here, I want to enjoy my house.
Marta - Another option is that these houses are going for bidding, and El Sereno Community Land Trust would want to purchase these houses. The problem is, like, last year, the land trust got like, probably one of the worst houses and just one. And the people, the agencies, entities that are getting more of the houses are Habitat for Humanity... is one, I don't know
Cecilia - That's one of the main ones.
Marta - That's one of the main ones that's getting that, and they're basically just flipping the houses because we tried to apply, and it's not at our income level, so it's not for deeply affordable housing. The Land Trust would like to bring the Reclaimers back, especially like Cecilia and other people that have roots in El Sereno. I think it's very important for them to come back to these houses. And so we're trying to get Caltrans to realize this and prioritize Reclaimers to come back to these houses. I know I have a friend that's doing work in Altadena also trying to get Caltrans houses for the people that were displaced during the fires. Like those are people that we need to prioritize. I feel,
Cecilia - I feel that if it wasn't for our movement, then these homes would have still been vacant and rotting and going to waste also.
Damien - Well, I think that's one of the reasons this story has captured people's imagination in a way that a lot of other stories that deal with issues around the unhoused haven't the direct action and the focus that was done on it, and how that really changed the conversation in this area around those housing and those issues. And I know when we're traveling for work, I'll have people in other parts of the state, if, when I say, you know, Streetsblog, oh, and I do our San Gabriel, they're like, Oh, you did the Reclaimers podcast. And then they'll ask for updates. And sometimes I have them right at my fingertips, and sometimes I have to look them up.
Cecilia - We also know that there has never been anyone to stand up to the state, to bring this up, into the light, to let everyone know that this data has all these properties they're just wasting. And this is not just in El Sereno. It's statewide.
Marta - That's like our major outrage, that these houses have been sitting vacant for so long and nothing was being done. And then it's not only here, like all the states, a lot of them Caltrans owned by Caltrans, sometimes by county, by city. How are we in a housing crisis? And these houses are sitting vacant, immoral? And that's why, to me, legality doesn't matter. Of like, yes, we took the houses, but we took it because it's immoral to have them just rotting while people are --
Cecilia - It should be against the law. It really should. The houses are being wasted. There's people suffering out there daily, every day, everywhere, statewide.
Damien - And you were making the point earlier that, yes, after some letters, the governor's office interceded and told the state, we pretty much have to stop doing it, to stop trying to force you out, and the county and city to figure something out. But do you think that that was probably not just a result of the public pressure, but also a result of the chaos of the pandemic, or do you think this could have been a very different story?
Cecilia - Oh definitely without pandemic it, it would have probably never have happened.
Damien - Yeah, you can't see it, but everybody's shaking their heads in the room for the people that are listening. So we've discussed a little bit about the current situations, the housing situations you're in, and what the next steps are for the movement to try and force governments to do something with the properties they have that are not being utilized. You know, the homelessness crisis hasn't gone away in the past five years.
Cecilia - It's never gonna go away unless there's permanent housing, affordable, permanent housing.
Damien - So what do we see as the next step for the movement from here, for me, sure we can get, we can do it locally, on what we're doing, and then maybe expand to talk about, like, what we would like to see the state do in future years.
Marta - Right. Oh, for me, locally, with the Reclaimers to get more of the houses through Caltrans, either individually, if that's an option, or through El Sereno community land trust as a whole, I feel like there should be more reclaiming like I think me I wanted also like moms for housing inspire more reclaiming locally and nationally, worldwide. I feel like we need to build a reclaiming movement, because again, it's immoral to have vacant houses while people are suffering in this supposedly fabricated housing crisis, because it's not natural, and so it's a product of capitalism and All these, all these oppressions we're under. So I want more people to reclaim and if people need support, I'm here for it...
Cecilia - A lot of people may not see it as being the correct way, but if we were able to get others aware of all these homes that are rotting then, then then if we, if that's the way we have to do it, then, then that's what we're going to do.
Marta - One of the oppositions we had in this neighborhood, and I think in general, is like, I work hard for my housing, so why should you get handouts? And I don't agree with that, like I could work hard for my housing, and I still think that people deserve housing because, not because I did it and I suffered and I wasn't able to spend time with my daughters because I was working so hard. Doesn't mean that I want better for other people. I think as humans, we should want better for other people, and if that takes a housing I know like it helps so many people to have a house--
Cecilia - People really don't start to see it unless it's right there in your front lawn. Somebody pulls up a tent and starts living on your sidewalk. Then they start to see it, then it starts to affect them.
Damien - I know it's very early in the process for this, but have any of the candidates for governor, in any way, said anything about this that would give you any hope. It seems like this is something that Villaraigosa would have picked up on.
Marta - Yeah, they either have ignored us or maybe they don't know, but I feel like we need to be out there more now and start demanding housing, permanent housing, stable housing, housing that really cares about people. Because the most vulnerable people on the streets I work with are unhoused all the time, I know their stories. I know they're highly traumatized, a lot of times, foster care, children that have weaned out of the system, that don't have support.
There's abused women out there, veterans, people that can't pay their medical bills, and so we tend to stigmatize or stereotype, "oh, it's just addicts," but often also substance abuse. I feel like anyone, and I don't care if they're addicts, they need housing, but substance abuse doesn't come from prior. A lot of times it's what they do to survive on the streets.
Damien - There was actually the West Side city council member Mike Bonin, who would talk about how there was a period in his life where he was homeless, and talked about how the drug abuse followed the becoming homeless, not the other way, not the other way around. And he would talk very movingly about it, as the council was, you know, ready to do something horrible about criminalizing homelessness. And at the time, the council was even more conservative than it is now, so there were a lot of 12 to one, you know, with two people, not there type votes with Mike, you know, being the one. And I think, though, that that's, that's a very interesting point, in a way, he humanized the issue for a lot of West siders, that whose only experience with homelessness was that person who was pulling up a tent in front of their house or pulling up an RV in front of their house. So their house. I don't know where I was going with that.
Cecilia - Also there, there were many, many vouchers that were unused, that were supposed to have been given out. And Huckle said on them, a lot of Section Eight vouchers are on. Used every year, and they expire. And so what no one ever looks into that portion like, why none of those, all those vouchers, should have been used because there are enough people to use them, and no one ever gets that side of the story either. You know, I think they need to dig deeper. And why are there so many homeless people out there? HACLA is not helping by doing such things.
Damien - So I feel like we've covered a lot of the issues we wanted to talk about. I know that sometimes, since we do this very conversationally, these podcasts, instead of a list of questions, sometimes there's something people are really dying to say, and I just didn't ask the right questions. So at the end, I am always like, if we miss something, feel free to just chime in and say it, because I want to make sure that we're getting your stories and your beliefs and opinions and values out there as much as possible. So if there's something we missed, please just fill it in. You can say I did a great job. That is totally acceptable. Chris is shaking his head because he's heard me say this so many times.
Marta - Yeah. Well, I mean to me, it's just the issue of displacement worldwide, especially right now with Palestine, I feel really strongly about that, like I don't. I think people deserve to be in the places where they feel comfortable in the places where they have support. And like Trump says, "Oh, they could just go to another Arab country." Like that doesn't make sense to me. Same thing with HACLA. "You could just go to the valley and find another school. That's fine." No. Like, no. We have roots. Here we have a community. Here we have schools that meet my daughter's needs. We can't just go anywhere, and this is something that needs to be humanized, because not just any offer should be okay, like there should be a really intentional offer that fits individual needs, because that affects our mental health and our health in general.
Damien - I think there is a stigma. Well, we offered them something, or, Oh, they were offered a voucher, and especially around the project room key. We would hear that a lot. Well, they were offered a hotel,
Marta - Like the phrase beggars can't be choosers.
Damien - Project room key was very well intentioned, but it was also there, but it was also very uneven. Some facilities worked great. Some did not. But I would hear that a lot when we were talking about that program back during the pandemic with people, well, they were offered something and didn't take it as though that somehow moved down their value, almost.
Marta - Yeah, I agree. Anything else?
Damien - No. Well, thank you both for your time. You know, always said, feel free to reach out if there's something we should know. I would love to hear if the people are ready to move into the El Sereno Community Land Trust home. We know if and when that happens, I should say when that happens, it will, you know, we would love to be able to come out and cover that, you know, highlight that success slowly, for sure. Yeah, well, I mean, you know, to take a house that's fallen into disrepair and get it ready like that is an undertaking. And for a nonprofit that's doing it for the first time, it's a double undertaking. You know, the next one will be easier. I understand that.
Marta - it's gonna be difficult. They're looking for funding for this house. They plan to do it ecologically. So they're doing a lot of research on Earth build, that is, that is also fire friendly, because we know what happened in Altadena and those houses there. So these are going to be more fire resilient with clay. And also they're sustainable, and this is the type of housing that we need in Los Angeles. So I'm really excited for this project. I know it's going to be hard to fund it, but we're looking forward to this project.
