SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Amanda Rose Riano lives in a bus currently parked along part of the levee system that protects Sacramento from the American River.
"The water is right there,” she said, pointing up the steep embankment. “It's definitely kind of scary. This morning there was lightning."
Some people living at this encampment are in tents, such as Melodee Freels.
She said the storm has made her tent and tarp “Soaked…so wet and hard and cold,” she said, with tears gathering in her eyes. “It's hard out here. I've never been homeless, so it's hard."
A car crash a couple of years ago changed Freels’ life, she said.
"I don't even know what stable housing is anymore,” Freels said. “Before all of this, I was on my own. I was taking care of myself. I was paying rent. I had a car. I was doing all that, and then I had a bad car accident, and that put me out on the street. I got a bad head injury."
Without a vehicle, she said, she doesn't know where her next meal is coming from. That’s why she's so grateful for a community advocate named Brie, who founded an organization called The Awkward Gardener's Community Table.
“My goal with Awkward Gardener's Community Table is to take food surplus and avoid it from becoming food waste by diverting it to folks who are experiencing food insecurity," she explained.
Brie comes to this camp in Sacramento every Sunday, offering food to people who live here and working to meet needs that have only grown during the storms. She asked ABC10 not to use her last name to protect her privacy due to her line of work and the risks associated with it. She also asked ABC10 not to reveal the exact location of this encampment, so as to not draw undue attention to a place where people could get cleared out by law enforcement.
She came out to the camp on Tuesday, too, this week, and handed out food to several people, including a woman named Reesie Tate.
“Luckily, I just got to stay with someone inside - indoors - due to the storm, but prior to being able to be indoors, it was horrible,” Tate said. “The tents are flying over everywhere. There are trees knocking things down. I was in someone's mobile home that almost went over into the-- it was parked on a narrow, narrow street and almost tiled over the edge - like, seriously - into a ditch."
She said Brie's weekly visit offers a ray of hope.
“She's just perfect. I get happy every time I see her,” Tate said.
Brie is not only handing out food but also giving out winter supplies, as donations come in - including tents, sleeping bags, tarps, and socks.
"It's items to keep them warm, keep them dry, keep them safe, that can withstand the winds and the temperatures and the rain - coming at them all at once,” Brie said.
The women ABC10 spoke with on Tuesday said -- they're thankful.
"Without her coming out here, I would be going hungry,” Freels said.
As part of her work, Brie also stocks free community fridges for people in need of food.
People can learn more about The Awkward Gardener's Community Table on Instagram HERE.
