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More Sweeps? Why California Fails on Homelessness

Even before Gavin Newsom’s statewide order to clear camps, Modesto’s homeless people were saying Stanislaus County Sheriffs had already started arresting people with no place to go. Whether that’s the case or not, jail time for homeless people is the expected outcome after the Supreme Court ruling on Grants Pass vs Johnson on June 28. […]

What if Homeless People aren’t who we Think they are?

The name “Larry” below is a pseudonym. He’s still on the streets, last we knew. ed. I walked into the camp thinking I’d done as much as I could to be safe. Still, I felt twinges of fear. A few years ago, before the systematic sweeps of camps throughout the city and county, I’d usually […]

Modesto Councilmember Kicks Hornets’ Nest on Homelessness

Modesto City Councilmember Nick Bavaro raised a lot of hackles during the May 7 meeting of the Modesto City Council. The item in question was what appeared to be a routine funding approval for the Salvation Army to continue operating a day center at the Berberian Shelter, which includes a traditional Salvation Army shelter and […]

Homeless in Modesto: A Tale of Two Cities

The last week of April in Modesto featured two of the city’s biggest public events, the State of the County report and, “Love Modesto,” the annual rite where volunteers display their civic pride with a citywide cleanup of trash and grafitti, while planting gardens, handing out hygiene kits and donating food packages, among other charitable […]

Hope Amid the Homeless on Modesto’s Mean Streets

As I was waiting for a bus last Sunday at the downtown transit center, an elderly man, using a walker loaded with what looked like his belongings, was denied access to a bus. The man stood there on this grey windy afternoon, shouting furiously at the bus driver at the injustice of denying him service, […]

California Fails on Homelessness says Statewide Audit

It came as no surprise to people who’ve watched state and local authorities fail to manage homelessness that those same authorities don’t know where the money goes. Recent reports from a statewide audit of homeless programs and expenses concluded that, “the State must do more to assess the cost-effectiveness of its homelessness programs.” Reviews of […]

Former Councilman Explains Anger over Tiny Homes for Homeless

Former Modesto City Councilmember Bruce Frohman lives in the Woodland West neighborhood where the City of Modesto has proposed locating a tiny home community for homeless people transitioning to traditional housing. Below, he explains the anger and confusion that arose when he and his neighbors learned about the proposal. ed.  Before notifying the potentially affected […]

Angry Neighbors Protest Proposed Tiny Homes for Homeless

“This is the democratic process,” said Modesto City Councilmember Chris Ricci to a restive crowd of well over a hundred people at Modesto’s Church of the Brethren near the conclusion of a March 29 community meeting to discuss a proposal to locate a tiny home village on church grounds. Located in a west Modesto neighborhood […]

The Moral Dilemma of Homelessness

As more and more studies reveal that homelessness is a result of material factors unrelated to cultural issues like family values, it’s become increasingly evident that the majority of homeless people are victims of forces beyond their control. If this is truly the case, state and local management policies for homelessness need to be reevaluated. […]

James Costello and Modesto’s Homeless Action Group

As this winter’s often heavy rains repeatedly drenched numerous streets and alleyways here in the city of Modesto, I ran across the inevitable evidence — when I ventured out, usually in the aftermath of a downpour — of the toll those storms were taking on the most vulnerable among us, i.e., our unhoused neighbors who […]