After rejecting a proposal to develop a safe ground program for homeless people during an October 20 workshop, on November 7 the Modesto City Council voted unanimously to support bridge housing, which could cost as much as $75,000 per unit, according to staff reports. The council voted to spend $3 million of its general budget on the acquisition of tiny homes such as Pallet Shelters to be put on yet-to-be-determined […]
Homelessness in Modesto
Homeless: Modesto Council Rejects Safe Ground
At a special meeting of the Modesto City Council on Friday, October 20, Councilmembers rejected a motion to direct staff to study safe sleeping sites for managing homelessness. The vote was four to three. Approximately 100 people turned out for the event, and public support for the proposal was overwhelming. As Councilmember Eric Alvarez noted, no member of the public spoke against the proposal. Opponents of the proposal made questionable […]
Homeless Workshop Will Spotlight Sweeps and Safe Ground
As homeless numbers continue to rise throughout the state, most of California’s leaders have followed Governor Gavin Newsom’s lead towards criminalizing the poorest among us. The default tactic of sweeps — chasing homeless people from one place to another — remains the most favored method of dealing with people on the streets, in the parks and alleys, and along waterways and freeway margins even while homeless numbers throughout the state […]
Councilmembers Propose Homeless Management Action Plan
Three Modesto City Councilmembers have submitted a “Safe Ground Homeless Vision” to City Manager Joe Lopez, Mayor Sue Zwahlen, and fellow Councilmembers Rosa Escutia-Braaton, Jeremiah Williams and David Wright. Brief and pragmatic, the plan is intended to reduce, “impacts and public health and safety concerns of unregulated encampments on local businesses and residents.” “We need to get people off our streets and sidewalks, out of our parks, and away from […]
Stanislaus Sheriff Supports Safe Sleeping for Homeless
During an early September interview with the Modesto Bee, Stanislaus County Sheriff Jeff Dirkse voiced strong support for safe camping for homeless people. “(With safe camping), outreach folks can actually solve problems because we’re condensing them into camps where they can interact with them” said Dirkse. “So, yeah, I fully support it — it’s a necessary step. Nimbyism will be huge. No one wants them (nearby) and I do understand […]
No Relief for Low-Income, Unhoused Valley Residents
A couple of Saturdays ago, a man and a woman lay on the grass beside each other in the deep shade of the First United Methodist Church in downtown Modesto. A shopping cart filled with their belongings was parked on the sidewalk nearby. I saw them as I was walking to the library that afternoon, under dusty sunlight slanting across I Street. They both seemed to be asleep, even with […]
Series of Violent Assaults Terrorize Modesto’s Homeless
Beginning in mid-August, a wave of violent assaults has terrorized homeless people near Modesto’s Yosemite Avenue and Riverside Drive. Most attacks occurred while people were sleeping. At least one involved assault with a large board, most likely a 2×4. Because of their reluctance to report crimes against them, it’s difficult to assess accurately how many homeless people have been victimized at any given time. Most reports of violence are made […]
Stanislaus Supervisors to Study Sleeping Plan for Homeless
“Christy Chavez would be alive today if we had safe sleeping for homeless people,” said Lynelle Solomon last Monday, July 31. “All she was looking for was a place to lay her head.” Solomon was referring to the death of 27-year- old Christine Chavez on July 8 in Modesto’s Beard Brook Park. Though the cause of death is not yet officially determined, Chavez was run over by a tractor and […]
Homelessness and Work: A Few Hard Facts
Despite voluminous facts to the contrary, the conventional wisdom still holds that homelessness is a choice. The popular view is that people choose homelessness to avoid the burdens of rent, car payments and honest work in favor of drugs, sloth and moral turpitude. No one has suggested that work itself might be part of the problem, but a growing list of facts about wages and homelessness suggest work may be […]
Gruesome Death of Unhoused Woman may have Saved a Life
Even though she was at a public meeting, Lynelle Solomon couldn’t hold back tears. Solomon was listening to public comments at a meeting of the Modesto City Council on July 11 when she heard a homeless advocate describe a grisly death by mowing machine at a park near Modesto’s Airport District, where Solomon has done homeless outreach for almost four years. The deceased woman’s name was Christy Chavez. “All I […]