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I spent a month with Ramona, 27, a general physicians assistant at the Stanford Hospital. Ramona and her family of three generations have been living in a 28’ ft RV for the last three years together in a Stanford University parking lot and in 2020 were moved into a city sanctioned “Safe Lot” in Silicon Valley behind the Google Complex.
“Most of us here are Mexican Americans, we are the ones who can’t afford to live here but keep this city running,” said Ramona’s father, Abraham, a tile layer for thirty years.
I pitched, produced, and photographed this story for High Country News. Read their story HERE
Anna holds her two boys after she gets back from a shift working at Stanford hospital and before she starts her classes which have moved to online since the COVID-19 outbreak in early May.
Diego (6) and TJ (5) spend the morning playing in their grand father's truck bed with blocks which were leftover from their grandfather, Abraham, making a new set of stairs for the RV they have all been living in together for the past year in Silicon Valley, CA.
TJ and Diego hold onto their mother Anna who works at Stanford hospital as a medical assistant and needs to move her car to a parking lot down the street from the city sanctioned 'safe lot' the RV residents have been parked in for the last three weeks.
The kids take their nightly walk with their grandpa Abraham around the Googleplex headquarters. Before the 'safe lot' opened up they were parked at Stanford University for three years on one of the main streets through the town. When cars would pass by the whole RV would move at night and wake them up. The safe lot may not have much shade to shelter them from the heat during the day but at least they can sleep better and there's a lot of room to play.
Anna gets home from work late because she is currently finishing up three online classes to complete her Bachelor's degree while also working full time at Stanford hospital and caring for her two boys and her own parents.
Brenda shuffles through the family’s supplies to find bottled water for the kids. Three generations in one RV can pose a lot of issues with space but the family makes it work and keeps the space so clean in order to keep living their lives without obstruction.
Brenda helps Diego stay focused and pay attention during his Zoom call with his first grade class in which they did show and tell of their favorite stuffed animals they have had their whole lives. Internet connection is sometimes not very stable but he has fun seeing all his classmates during the California 'shelter in place' for the COVID-19 epidemic.
Abraham takes a moment to collect his thoughts while he measures and cuts a piece of wood to make a new set of stairs for another RV resident who has a disabled child. The safe lot program has allowed for RV dwellers who may have experienced loneliness in the past to come together and create a space for community and togetherness. Using what skills and tools they may have to help eachother create a better or even more stable life.
TJ and Diego look out over the new Google “canopy campus.” The 'safe lot' where the family lives is situated between this new construction and the giant’s current Googleplex headquarters. The kids spend their weekends exploring the 2.8 million square feet of Google Space and parking lots around the 20 buildings they are living between.
TJ and Diego wake up every morning at 7 after their mom has left for work at the hospital and try to find things to play with in sight of their grandparents at the RV. Other than climbing some of the trees around the parking lot they found this dirt pile.
Diego works on math homework he was assigned as part of his first grade homework on the tablet the family shares. Sometimes he works inside with the help of his grandmother Brenda or outside in the shade of the RV. Access to the internet has been tough for families with school aged children living in mobile homes.
Diego does a headstand nearby the RV in the 'safe lot'. School is out and a lot of kids in the RV's spend their time playing outside on the crumbly asphalt and bit of grass in view of their parents or grandparents.
Diego rests his head on his grandfather after completing some homework and explaining that he wants to play on the scooters that were donated to the family the day before.
The park above the safe lot provides for a great space to play in at dusk when it has cooled off. The boys and their mother Anna usually take a walk after she returns from her shift at the hospital and before she starts her online classes until late at night.
Diego climbs across a branch above the city sanctioned safe lot on a hot day in May. He will be finished with his online schooling next week but his family makes sure he is always studying, whether it's math or learning a few words in Italian.
Brenda and Abraham watch Diego and TJ play a huge game of hopscotch across the lot in which they are parked with their neighbor Yahritza who provided the chalk. They played under the rising supermoon until around 10 PM when they made plans to continue early in the morning.
The city sanctioned 'safe lot' program was established because of the increase in RV-dwellers and houseless populations over the last few years in Silicon Valley. Santa Clara County's houseless population has risen from 7,394 people in 2017 to 9,706 in 2019, according to a census taken last year, mirroring a regional homelessness crisis that has gripped the Bay Area. The safe lot not only provides a safe space for mobile home dwellers but it also provides a community for residents to lean on in times of need. In the shoreline safe lot there are over 6 countries represented.