Quadriplegic homeless woman who led Sacramento activists finally moves into housing

Ariane Lange
·4 min read
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Holly Porter, the quadriplegic homeless woman who inspired and co-founded the first sanctioned, self-governed encampment in Sacramento County, moved into a Meadowview apartment Thursday following months of vociferous lobbying for local authorities to secure a permanent home for her.

For 10 months, Porter and her neighbors at Camp Resolution had repeatedly called on Sacramento leaders to house her; Porter and her family had actively sought housing for a year and a half.

Advocates for Holly Porter shut down the beginning of Sacramento City Council on Tuesday and Mayor Darrell Steinberg came from behind closed doors to calm them. For 10 months, Porter and her neighbors at the homeless camp, repeatedly called on Sacramento leaders to house her.
Advocates for Holly Porter shut down the beginning of Sacramento City Council on Tuesday and Mayor Darrell Steinberg came from behind closed doors to calm them. For 10 months, Porter and her neighbors at the homeless camp, repeatedly called on Sacramento leaders to house her.

“I’m very excited,” Porter said, sitting in her wheelchair in the sunny ground-floor unit Thursday afternoon, “but I just don’t think it’s actually sunk in yet.”

After months of delays, she had only just allowed herself to feel happy at the prospect of life indoors.

Porter had been living at Camp Resolution, an encampment on Colfax Street and Arden Way in Old North Sacramento. She and around 60 other residents won a formal lease from the city this spring, guaranteeing they wouldn’t be evicted from the site. Though the city has provided trailers, the camp has neither running water nor a connection to the electric grid.

Feeling stressed Holly Porter, who says she rarely smokes, takes a drag off of Monica Gonzales’ cigarette inside a makeshift tent at Camp Resolution on June 21. She said she was stressed about still not getting housing. Earlier that morning the quadriplegic had a visit from Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and she said he told her to call him directly if she didn’t get housed.

This lack of basic necessities made life there difficult for Porter, who has limited mobility and is particularly vulnerable to bad weather.

Her neighbors at the camp as well as outside activists rallied around her. Their demands escalated after City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood and California Homeless Union attorney Anthony Prince signed a letter of understanding March 24 agreeing that the city would “work diligently and use all efforts” to house Porter within 45 days. Ultimately, 97 days elapsed before Porter received her new keys, and her supporters attended multiple City Council meetings to draw attention to her situation.

At Tuesday’s council meeting, Crystal Sanchez, the president of the Sacramento Homeless Union, stepped up to the podium to urge leaders to move Porter into a permanent home.

Crystal Sanchez, president of the Sacramento Homeless Union, speaks during the public comment matters not on the agenda at the end of Sacramento City Council meeting questioning why Holly Porter is not housed as advocates from Camp Resolution hold up a sign in Holly’s behalf on Tuesday.
Crystal Sanchez, president of the Sacramento Homeless Union, speaks during the public comment matters not on the agenda at the end of Sacramento City Council meeting questioning why Holly Porter is not housed as advocates from Camp Resolution hold up a sign in Holly’s behalf on Tuesday.

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“If we can’t house Holly, who has a disability, who has an income, who has a mother who’s a caregiver,” she asked, “how can we house anybody who’s homeless?”

At the Meadowview complex Thursday, the mood was jubilant. Porter’s mother and full-time caregiver, Deborah Casillas, couldn’t stop smiling. Tracey Knickerbocker, Porter’s longtime case manager through the local nonprofit Hope Cooperative, toted three balloons, a shiny red potted anthurium in bloom and a salami-and-cheese platter with a big bow into the apartment.

Standing next to the balloons, Knickerbocker and Casillas hugged. “We did it,” Casillas said into Knickerbocker’s shoulder.

“Yes,” the case manager said. “You did.”

Deborah Casillas pushes her daughter, Holly Porter, in her chair, alongside Tracey Knickerbocker with Hope Cooperatives. Porter, a quadriplegic who was living in a hospital bed at Camp Resolution, got the keys to her new apartment Thursday, after actively seeking housing for a year and a half.
Deborah Casillas pushes her daughter, Holly Porter, in her chair, alongside Tracey Knickerbocker with Hope Cooperatives. Porter, a quadriplegic who was living in a hospital bed at Camp Resolution, got the keys to her new apartment Thursday, after actively seeking housing for a year and a half.

Next steps after permanent housing: Other basic needs

Now that she has a roof over her head, Porter said she’s looking forward to doing everything she couldn’t do because being unhoused presented an insurmountable roadblock. In particular, she was excited to get adequate health services.

“I didn’t get nothing when I was homeless,” she said. “That’s my biggest goal now, is to get all my medical back in place.”

Porter couldn’t get a physical therapist to treat her in her tent, even though she has a substantial disability. She couldn’t get a power wheelchair, or an electric lift to get her out of her hospital bed. Because they didn’t have permanent housing, Casillas could not get paid as Porter’s in-home supportive services worker, even though Porter needs full-time care.

Additionally, the search for housing and all the attendant bureaucratic hurdles had taken up a significant amount of Porter’s time and energy.

Once she gets a power wheelchair, she said, she’ll be able to move around the world much more easily.

“I don’t plan on staying in here just because I’m indoors,” she said.

Holly Porter, a quadriplegic who was living in a hospital bed at Camp Resolution homeless encampment, is wheeled around her new apartment by Hope Cooperative’s Tracey Knickerbocker on Thursday. Knickerbocker had bought Holly a plant, balloons and assorted deli meats in celebration of her getting her keys and getting housed. “Relieved that it finally happened,” said Porter who sought housing for a year and a half. “I’m very excited. but I just don’t think it’s actually sunk in yet.”

Even on her move-in day, she had another bureaucratic problem to handle. Porter and Knickerbocker said the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency had agreed to cover her portion of her first month’s rent, but because she moved in on June 29, she had learned they would only cover the prorated rent for June — and not the $228 she’ll owe for the month of July.

Porter was hoping to put that money toward setting up her new apartment. The hospital bed in which she spends much of her time could use a new mattress; Casillas needs a bed; and they’ll need typical household items such as furniture, linens, towels and cleaning supplies. On Thursday, Knickerbocker and Porter were trying to get Medi-Cal’s housing assistance program to cover the cost of July’s rent so she’d have a little extra money as she moved in.

And for Porter, the bigger fight wasn’t over: She said there are too many disabled people living on the streets, and too many barriers to getting them indoors. She plans to continue advocating for systemic change.