More than a dozen people in need of food and/or a place to sleep lined up on a recent Tuesday, seeking services offered daily by the Greater Richmond Interfaith Program (GRIP), a nonprofit dedicated to helping the local unhoused community.
Recently GRIP’s leadership team has noticed a shift in who is showing up. The organization, established in 1966 by a coalition of local faith groups to provide food, shelter, and case management, is housing a majority white population for the first time in its history, said Ralph Payton, the program’s executive director. Typically, those at the shelter were either Black or Latino.
“Around this time last year, approximately 45% of the families in GRIP’s family shelter were undocumented, Spanish-speaking households,” Payton said, adding that GRIP’s shelter capacity is 65 people. “That number has since dropped to under 20%.”
Advocates for the unhoused, such as Payton and GRIP Family Shelter Manager Siu Tuivailala, believe this is a result of the Trump Administration’s increased immigration enforcement. Unhoused, undocumented people are increasingly hesitant to seek social services such as overnight shelters and short-term housing.
Connect with GRIP
What: Greater Richmond Interfaith Program (GRIP)
Where: 165 22nd St., Richmond
How to get help: Visit GRIP’s Resource Center, which provides shower, laundry and mail services daily from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. GRIP’s Care Center, provides case management and ID card replacement daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and GRIP’s Soup Kitchen serves lunch daily from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
To support GRIP: Click here to donate.
“When families fear that seeking help might put them at risk of being torn apart, we have failed them as a community,” Payton said, adding that most of the undocumented families they are trying to serve have been in Richmond for years. “We’ve seen parents choosing to sleep in their cars rather than risk entering a shelter, worried that their information could somehow make its way to federal authorities. That’s a tragic outcome of rhetoric that confuses compassion with enforcement.”
Richmondside joined Tuivailala to tour a number of encampments around Richmond while they passed out food. During these visits, GRIP also attempts to encourage unhoused residents to seek services while bringing them supplies they’ve requested, things such as blankets, portable mattresses and first aid items.
One woman, whose name Richmondside is not publishing due to her undocumented status, said the fear instituted by the current political climate in Washington is trickling down.
“Look, those who are documented are having it rough right now, imagine those who don’t. It’s worse,” she told Richmondside as she waited to pick up about a dozen bags of food for herself and her family and friends. “Ever since this all started (when Trump was inaugurated), I’m constantly afraid.”
The woman pointed to stories she’s hearing, such as that of 73-year-old Harjit Kaur, who was detained and ultimately deported to India after living in the Bay Area for decades and following all the rules.
“They are treating people worse than animals,” she added. “It isn’t right.”
Another undocumented woman told this reporter that GRIP’s weekly food outreach has helped ease food insecurities for her family and friends, though she has also noted that the fear gripping the community is making them hesitant to request services.
“Every Tuesday when they come here I get soups and other food. It really is a big help for those of us who need it,” the woman said, adding that she has noticed that normally busy Latino neighborhoods, such as the 23rd Street corridor, seem emptier in recent months. “People are afraid to even come here and wait for free food. They are afraid to leave their homes or their encampments.”
Tuivailala has worked to develop relationships with residents like the woman, who she knows takes enough food to give to people who are fearful of contact due to immigration concerns or who may be living in an unsafe encampment that is difficult to access — like on the side of a freeway.
“The ones who come to take a lot are giving them to others in the encampments along the freeways that I can’t go to,” Tuivailala said. “They don’t waste it.”
The need is so great, Tuivailala added, that GRIP often runs out of food before visiting all of the encampments around town. During the first stop along the Richmond Greenway, more than 100 bags of fresh food were handed out.
Official count shows fewer homeless people in west county
Recently, data gathered by Contra Costa County Health in the annual Point in Time (PIT) count shows some strides being made in regards to homelessness in Richmond and other parts of west Contra Costa County.
In 2024, there were 388 unsheltered people in Richmond observed during the PIT count but that number has dropped to 208 in 2025. In the west Contra Costa County region, that number has also dropped from 502 people to 297, a 41% decrease.
However, it is difficult to get a full picture of the undocumented, unhoused population in Richmond, according to advocates like GRIP and Safe Organized Spaces (SOS) Richmond.
O’Neill Fernandez, director of wellness and programs for SOS Richmond, agrees that federal policies have had an impact but said that organizations, like SOS, don’t typically ask people to disclose their residency status in order to develop trust with those they are trying to help.
“People are deeper in hiding,” he said. “Some of them we have been working with for so long that they know that we are only going to work in the best interest of them.”
Since SOS opened its new warm hand center on Harbour Way in January, Fernandez said he still sees familiar undocumented, unhoused people come in for temporary shelter and services, though immigration concerns have still lingered throughout the community this year.
Marcela Hidalgo, SOS’s bilingual outreach team leader, said that she has seen skepticism among undocumented, unhoused people who are refusing to visit physical locations to get services. In one case she saw some undocumented persons who were leery of a Contra Costa County Coordinated Outreach Referral and Engagement (CORE) member who came to offer shelter.
She added that familiarity and trust are crucial when dealing with this particular community.
“They are iffy about accepting help from anybody because they don’t know who to trust,” she said. “We have to go to them and it’s hard to get them in here.”
Hidalgo is the only bilingual SOS outreach member, she said.
“There are certain things I can’t do so I’m limited,” she said. “Then if I’m not here they won’t come because they don’t know the person they are dealing with. It’s been hard getting new (undocumented) folks in here.”
One way Tuivailala tries to develop rapport with those she works with, despite her language barrier, is by the weekly food distributions. There she connects those she meets to shelter services and helps them get identification cards, such as the Richmond Municipal identification card, which is easier to get than a California ID card for those who lack necessary residency documents.
“We historically have had undocumented families that will stay with us for as long as it takes to get them into permanent housing,” Payton said, noting that in one case the family stayed for more than two years before they found a landlord who would rent to them. GRIP, he added, helps families become more financially literate so they can save money.
Payton said that landlords are typically hesitant to rent to those without legal residency.
“Even if they come with years of rent in advance that they’ve been able to save here, it still is difficult to find a landlord to rent from,” he said.
Payton told Richmondside that the threat of ICE enforcement has impacted undocumented residents, making them think twice before accepting help.
One undocumented man who spoke to Richmondside said he had been receiving meals from GRIP for the last six months in lieu of visiting organizations serving free meals inside buildings like GRIP’s food kitchen. He said that at first he was largely supportive of President Trump and thought the administration would only target criminals but now fears that the administration is taking it too far.
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“Every person who comes to our doors deserves dignity, warmth, and trust — not fear.”
— Ralph Payton, GRIP
“I thought that Trump would be a strong leader with a hard hand and that would be what we would need but he’s messing up with the immigration,” the man said. “He’s attacking a lot of people who aren’t criminals and he’s taking them, separating them from their families.”
Although the immigration threats continue to instill fear in Richmond’s undocumented and unhoused community, Payton and Tuivailala are continuing to spread awareness that the GRIP Center is open and available for undocumented residents and families experiencing housing instability.
“At GRIP, we believe that shelter and safety should never depend on immigration status. Every person who comes to our doors deserves dignity, warmth, and trust — not fear,” Payton said. “GRIP’s mission is rooted in creating safe spaces for everyone — regardless of who they are or where they come from. We’re working closely with trusted partners and advocates to reassure Latino residents that our shelters are confidential, welcoming, and protective. The answer isn’t fear — it’s community, trust, and connection.”
Regarding this statement: “…. such as that of 73-year-old Harjit Kaur, who was detained and ultimately deported to India after living in the Bay Area for decades and following all the rules.” This is misleading as anyone who is here illegally is not following all the rules. She has been breaking the law since she got here by being in this country illegally