Homeless people living in a former motel known as North Napa Shelter, closing June 30, have been offered gift cards if they move out by June 25. Earlier is better.
The payout is tiered by departure date: $700 for those who vacate June 1-10; $500 for June 11-15, and $250 for June 16-25.
“No gift cards will be offered for move-outs after June 25th,” according to a letter posted Wednesday to the door of each resident.
“They’re bribing us to go on the streets.”
— Jenn Mcdonald, North Napa Shelter resident
“They’re bribing us to go on the streets,” said Jenn McDonald, who said she’s been living at the shelter for three years.
A temporary shelter reaches its end
The shelter, a 57-unit former Motel 6 known as “The Six,” opened in 2023 thanks to a $15 million grant from California’s Encampment Resolution Fund.
The Six is run by Abode Services, which contracts with the City of Napa to operate a majority of its homeless shelters and programs. But money for the project has run out.
McDonald says she and about a dozen other people have yet to be re-housed.
“They want me to leave by the 10th, and even though the shelter is full they said that they will check in once a week,” McDonald said.
Napa Community Resources and Development Director Molly Rattigan applied for further Encampment Resolution Funds, but the state’s Housing and Community Development rejected it.
Alicia Murillo, a state spokesperson, said Napa’s application scored too low in budget, timeline and “core service delivery.”
The Six was “always intended to be temporary,” Rattigan said in a March interview, shortly after announcing the shelter’s closure.
“The intent was always to return it to being a hotel. No one will have to return to homelessness.”
— Molly Ratigan, director of the City of Napa’s Community Resources and Development Department
“The intent was always to return it to being a hotel,” she said, adding: “No one will have to return to homelessness.”
Where they will go is unclear.
Residents have nowhere to go
Housing in Napa is scarce, and shelters have long waitlists and strict rules. While some of the remaining residents have been housed, there are still a dozen or so still at
The Six who say they have nowhere to go.
“They just don’t know what to do,” said Michele Quecke, a resident of the shelter who recently moved out.
The uncertainty has worn on everyone living at The Six.
“Look at the back of my head,” said Quecke, 69, turning to show patches of thinned-out hair. “That’s nerves.”
Last week, Quecke caught a break when an apartment for her and a roommate opened up at a complex near South Napa Marketplace. Her move was scheduled for this weekend.
Quecke said she’s been unhoused since losing a home near Lake Berryessa during the LNU Lightning Complex fires in 2020. The wildfires killed six people and destroyed 1,491 structures, burning 363,000 acres.
When she moved to The Six in 2025, a case manager said it would only be a matter of time before she was housed.
“They’re really trying hard to house people,” Quecke said. Still, she said, the process is distressing, and depression and anxiety are growing among remaining residents.
“When I was first moved in, I asked what can I do on my end to make this happen quicker?” she said, referring to her case manager. “She goes, ‘Nothing. You don’t need to do anything. We got it.’ That was such a lie.”