Elderly people build tree houses to protest the eviction of state-owned houses
Before the sun rose on Tuesday, Benito Flores strengthened the front door of his one-bedroom copy on a narrow street in El Sereno.
Flores, a 70-year-old retired welder, illegally occupied a home five years ago after its owner, the California Department of Transportation owner, was placed in a vacancy. He was allowed to stay for a few months and then directed to a nearby home owned by the agency, but now it's time to go.
Later in the morning, deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department were scheduled to lock him out.
Flores obviously has other plans. Over the course of months, he sawed two by four wooden pieces to serve as a support between the front door and the interior wall, making it harder to violate. He bolted the metal screen door. Once satisfied with Flores, he got the entrance Tuesday, and he retreated to his 28-foot-tall wooden structure in the ash trees in his backyard.
If the police want him to leave, they must come and take him to his tree house.
“I plan to resist as much as possible,” Flores said.
The homemade building is 6 feet tall and 3 feet wide, representing Flores' last position and attracted national attention in March 2020. Flores and a dozen others occupied the empty houses owned by Caltrans and were used for a highway expansion that had never happened half a century ago. They say they want to draw attention to the homeless crisis in Los Angeles.
Flores said the issue is still urgent today. He believes that political leaders have failed to provide housing for all those in need.
“They don't care about the people,” Flores said. “Who should provide permanent housing to elders, disabled people and families with children? It's the city and the country. They're expelling me.”
For the public institutions involved, resistance represents a discomfort, covering up the aid and leniency they provide to Flores and protesters, who call their group “recycling our homes.” The state allows group members or retriers to remain legally legal and pay two years of rent well below market interest rates. From then on, these agencies continue to provide referrals for permanent housing and financial settlements if panelists voluntarily leave.
They say that expulsion is the last resort and is required by law.
“We have no right to operate outside of this,” said Tina Booth, director of asset management for the City of Los Angeles Housing Administration.
Four reclaimers, including Flores, stayed at home.
The two accepted the settlement and were expected to leave within a few weeks. The final recycling agency also targeted him with a court order to eviction, but planned to leave without any accidents.
California Want to sell Flores' houses and other empty houses In El Sereno to public or nonprofit housing providers, this will make low-income residents available for rent or purchase.
Flores said it would make no sense to evict him because the property was intended to be used as an affordable housing he qualifies for. Flores, who suffers from diabetes, charges about $1,200 per month for Social Security and supplementary payments. Flores said he had no choice but to sleep in his van and he lived for 14 years if he was moved away.
“We will live on the streets for the rest of our lives,” Flores said in an open letter to Sheriff Robert Luna last week.
Flores received an early notification of lockdown. His supporters began to arrive at the normally sleepy neighborhood starting Tuesday at 6 a.m. Flores is already in the tree.
Within 90 minutes, more than twenty people arrived. They are stationed in the corner. Some people walked through the side doors into Flores' house, providing another level of defense.
1. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies spoke on Tuesday, June 3, 2025 at Benito Flores on Shelley Street in El Sereno, California. 2. Benito Flores spoke to the media on Tuesday, June 3, 2025, saying that the sheriff who will serve him lacks compassion and that he lives on the street will mean death.
Activist and former mayoral candidate Gina Viola summoned the crowd on the sidewalk. She said it was “despicable” and left the house empty when a lot needed. Just like Flores and the reclaimers, those who need action provide permanent housing immediately.
“This is part of the long-term overdue estimate,” Viola said.
She pointed to the tree house and praised Flores.
“He is a 70-year-old elder who has climbed up to…propose this to the world: 'This is my home, I will not leave.'”
The structure has been seen from the street for weeks. Flores brought a message calling for a citywide strike.
The tree house is exquisite. Flores uses galvanized steel brackets to secure a series of ladders to the trunk of ash tree. The trunk is higher in the tree, and Flores pierces the spikes into the bark, allowing the last few steps to enter the structure.
Inside the tree house, hung on nearby branches with blankets, warm clothes, food, water and his medicines. To keep it clean, there is a wooden broom that sweeps away leaves and other debris. Flores is expected to charge the phone via an extension line of electricity connected to the garage. He bolted the chair to the bottom of the tree house and had a seat belt to grab him.
Flores has not arrived at 9 a.m., and Flores has not arrived, wearing a seat belt, talking to news media members in the driveway. He spoke from behind the locked fence.
Flores rejected the assertion that the housing authorities provided him with another place of residence. He said the agency’s aid proposal (such as Section 8 vouchers) cannot be guaranteed. He cited the struggles vouchers face when looking for landlords to receive subsidies.
“They provided me with potential permanent housing,” Flores said of the Housing Authority.
Jenny Scanlin, the agency's chief strategic development officer, said Flores had been offered more than twenty referrals to other homes, but he turned them down. Some involved waiting lists and vouchers, but others had immediate occupancy rates, she said.
Flores received aid, “We absolutely believe in another place of residence he could have lived in – permanent affordable housing.”
Joseph de la O, 62, occupied a Caltrans-owned house in 2020. He accepted the settlement in Hacla and has since returned to the homeless. He came to Flores' home to help protest the expulsion. ”
When Flores held a courtroom in the driveway, he rolled up his legs in his pants, soreness towards his diabetes and said that he had nowhere to refrigerate his insulin on the street.
Supporters are on the edge when Flores speaks. Representatives of the property management company dug out a block of holding drills.
At around 9:45, the two sheriff's cruisers were parked a block away. The three deputies came down and met the real estate manager and walked to Flores' home.
Flores supporters met them in the driveway. Deputies said they wanted to talk to Flores and then brush the locked door. Flores told them to ask themselves why they needed to expel the elderly. The delegates replied that they provided assistance for adult protection services and followed the court's orders.
A deputy, Flores, a brochure describes housing resources provided by the county, which includes information about calling 211. Flores lifted the paper over his head and showed it to everyone. The crowd began to boo, shouting “Shame”.
Then, an officer tried to reason with Flores in Spanish. But it's obvious that nothing is there.
“Suerte,” the officer said to Flores. “Good luck. ”
Then they left.
Comments with the sheriff's department were not immediately available, and a Caltrans spokesman referred the comments to the housing authorities. Scanlin said she hopes to continue locking the process as per the court order.
Flores and his supporters believe that the sheriff's deputies can return at any time. Some people plan to camp in their house overnight.
