Giant Abandoned Homeless Camp on S. Fairview Removed

Source: Heal the Ocean

While many of us were having a nice weekend relaxing and being with friends this past weekend, something wonderful was going on in the So. Fairview Avenue area of Goleta we want you all to see.

Andrew Velikanje (we call him Andrew V.) was tackling the cleanup of a huge homeless camp spread widely in the So. Fairview area – by himself – and at breakneck speed. (Well, this little 4-minute video is fast-forwarded so it looks like breakneck speed – but this job took Andrew all day.)

This is “Site #5” on a list of 29 abandoned camps identified in HTO’s Homeless Survey done by HTO Field Advisor Harry Rabin at the request of the City of Santa Barbara Encampment Response Group.

Meanwhile, back at the HTO home camp, we didn’t know Andrew was working on this site going into the weekend, so when it was all bagged up, ready for pickup on Saturday, we had no one to call. Coming to our rescue (again!) was Brian Borgatello of MarBorg Industries, who sent his crew out to pick up all of the bags collected by Andrew, and everything was gone by early afternoon on Saturday.

Andrew’s business is Earthcomb, “For a Cleaner California,” and you can see his great videos on his website, which tallies all the trash and litter Andrew picks up (now, nearly 16,000 pounds). As he scurries about picking up trash, you’ll see “Vroom Vroom” superimposed on the videos – so at Heal the Ocean we’ve decided to anoint Andrew with the name “Mr. Vroom Vroom” as he proceeds through the rest of the abandoned homeless sites identified in the HTO Survey. HTO funded this survey, as well as Andrew’s great work. 

Thank you, Andrew! Thank you, Brian Borgatello!