Community Corner

Homeless Families Staying in Oceanside Church Face Possible Eviction

The city ruled that the church wasn't zoned for residential use, and that the homeless people have until Monday, Aug. 5 to make other arrangements.

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Twelve homeless people who have taken up residence in an Oceanside church are facing eviction after the city said that it is not zoned for residential use.

Among the people are at least two children. 

Fagatua Tili, the pastor of Grace Full Gospel Church, told U-T San Diego that he's aware that the building is not up to code, but that the need of the families trumped that fact. 

“As a man of God, I can’t turn them away,” Tili told the newspaper.

Oceanside city code enforcement manager David Manley said he received a complaint about people living in the church last week. When an inspection was done, officials found several safety violations. A letter posted outside the church designated it as "substandard" in terms of a residence, and said that anyone living in the church had to be out by Aug. 5, according to U-T San Diego.

Suzanne Faulhaber, 49, and her 9-year-old son Damian now find themselves without a place to stay, as their search for long-term housing options have yielded nothing. After being evicted from their Escondidio apartment a few months ago, Faulhaber, a recovering drug addict, told the newspaper that she's been told by social services that she doesn't qualify for low-income housing. 

“I could live in my car but not with my kid,” she said.

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She and the other people living in the church shared one shower and four bathrooms of the building, located at Ditmar and Whaley streets. According to the newspaper, they slept on yoga mats or on the floor. Now, she and the others have until Monday to make other arrangements. 

“I’ve been out there, calling ministries, calling churches,” she told U-T San Diego. “I don’t have anywhere to take my children. I want my children to go to school and I can’t put them in school because I don’t know where we’re going to live.”

Manley said that the city "just can’t have people living in dangerous conditions."

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