State-issued trailers for Covid isolation are getting a new life.

In a peaceful, tree-lined campground surrounding a pond in King City, 15 nearly identical RV trailers were neatly lined up, awaiting their guests’ imminent arrival. It was May 2020, almost exactly two months after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The trailers in San Lorenzo County Park had been delivered to the county by the state for use as housing for people who tested positive but had no place to safely isolate. Some were people without homes, some came from overcrowded living quarters.

The plan at the time, officials said, was to receive more trailers, and eventually they did get five more, for a total of 20. Over two years, the trailers housed 522 people. The last guests left at the end of June and the trailers were removed by the end of August. The campground was refurbished with paint, landscaping and horseshoe pits then fully reopened to the public on Nov. 1.

Four trailers went to King City to house families displaced from a homeless encampment along the banks of the Salinas River due to a fire in May. That left the county wondering what to do with 16 well-worn, but still useful, trailers.

County Homeless Services Director Roxanne Wilson saw them as potential temporary housing, so she contacted nonprofits, offering them the trailers for free. There wasn’t much interest, possibly because of the maintenance needed. The SHARE Center in Salinas did express interest – two trailers are earmarked for the shelter.

“They are incredibly helpful, especially for larger families, or families with younger children, because sometimes you can’t be in congregate living situations with young children,” Wilson says.

Wilson is now turning her attention to other cities to see if any of them could use a trailer – for Covid isolation, temporary housing or for substance abuse diversion. “There is certainly a need. There are still people living outside and these are a great option for a temporary solution, but they have had fairly extensive wear and tear,” she says. “Whatever entity would like to take them on would have to consider the maintenance that these require.” Before the trailers can be released, the transfer will have to be approved by the Monterey County Board of Supervisors.