Two or three times a week — sometimes more often — Lynelle Solomon jumps into her 2008 Ford Expedition and leaves the serenity and comfort of her home in one of Modesto’s more secure neighborhoods. Her destination is just minutes away — the badlands of Modesto’s Airport District, where the governing authorities are just as likely to be youthful gangsters as uniformed cops.
Solomon has frequented Modesto’s mean streets since Christmas of 2019. After a heavy rainstorm, she and a friend decided to bring food and comfort to drenched and miserable people with nowhere to go. At the time, she was appalled at what she saw. She’s never really gotten over it.
Today, after years on the street, she ministers to dozens of homeless people and slum residents, many of whom she knows by name. A great many are elderly; even more are sick or disabled.
“When I saw that homeless people in our parks and other public places were being fed and offered clothing,” she said recently, “I decided to go where no one else was looking. I looked for the people who were in hiding or who just seemed to be abandoned and alone. There are five deaf mutes on the streets that I know of. There’s no excuse for this.”
Lynelle finds those she now calls, “my people,” anywhere from curbsides to the fenced enclosures surrounding dumpsters. She brings food, including her special vegetable soup — “all fresh, nothing from cans” — homemade potato salad and other hearty meals. She brings clothing and hygiene products. Most of all, she brings love and compassion to people like her friends Jerry and Christy.
Seventy-nine years old and confined to a wheelchair, Jerry stayed at the Modesto Gospel Mission until staff found marijuana in his pocket, whereupon he was banned. His limited income prohibited him from finding a rental of any kind.
After he was expelled from the mission, Jerry spent his days and nights in the empty lot next door to the Mission. Suffering from COPD, liver and kidney problems, and several other ailments, Jerry needed almost constant attention.
“I tried many times to find him housing,” said Lynelle, “but since he needed care, I was unable to. Winter before last, I was frightened I would lose him to the cold weather, as I had already lost another. I checked on him daily to make sure he was warm and had food.”
Last spring, Jerry’s medical problems got worse. He was taken to local hospitals several times. He was admitted only intermittently. On most occasions, he was treated and wheeled out to the front of the hospital, where he was left to his own resources.
“He called me several times to pick him up and take him back to the empty lot,” said Lynelle.
Summer of 2022, Jerry’s COPD caused him to become more and more debilitated. One day Lynelle and a friend were driving by the empty lot on Yosemite Avenue where Jerry spent his days and nights and Lynelle saw him lying on the ground next to his wheelchair.
“I yelled at my friend,” said Lynelle, “and she flipped the fastest U-turn in the world. I jumped out of the car, grabbed him, and started yelling at someone to move his chair so I could lay him down flat.”
After calling 911, “EMT showed up,” said Lynelle. “They told me they were very familiar with Jerry. They were rude, and, in my opinion, abusive to him. I told Jerry I loved him and off they took him.”
At the hospital, Jerry received some breathing treatments, then he was back on the streets. He was prescribed medication, but had no way to get to the pharmacy. Lynelle visited him once or twice a day until she left for an overseas trip that lasted two months. When she got back, Jerry was nowhere to be found.
“I was told he was taken to the hospital,” said Lynelle. “It breaks my heart to think if he has passed that there wasn’t anybody there to let him know he was loved.”
Sick as he was, Jerry served as a protector for his and Lynelle’s friend Christy. Deaf and mute, Christy spent most of her time in the vacant lot with Jerry. He bought her a bike for her 50th birthday.
“Christy has problems with her legs and can barely walk,” said Lynelle, “with the bike she was mobile. Ever since Jerry has been gone, Christy has been wandering the streets. She can’t seem to find a place where she feels comfortable and safe. She does sleep in the Mission, but she doesn’t qualify for their programs.”
Lynelle and Christy communicate by writing on a tablet. After Jerry disappeared, Lynelle started learning sign language so they could communicate more readily.
“I think about what her world is like,” said Lynelle. “She can’t hear if someone comes up from behind her or if a car is honking at her. She can’t hear if someone is yelling at her to be careful. She also can’t yell if she needs help. She has to be very lonely. Christy and I have become very close. I have learned her sizes, favorite color, taste in clothing and what she likes to eat.”
Last winter, Christy’s hands got so dry they developed deep and painful cracks. Lynelle treated them as best she could, using Neosporin and various creams. Christy is only one of five deaf mutes Lynelle knows who are suffering from life on the streets.
Most everywhere Lynelle Solomon goes when on her missions of mercy, she sees people nodding off from the powerful effects of fentanyl.
“It’s everywhere,” she says. “I carry Narcan [Naloxone] wherever I go. I never know when I may have to try to treat someone for an overdose or when I might be exposed to the powder myself.”
Sometimes Lynelle finds homeless people who are in remarkably good shape. Usually, these are people living in motor homes or vehicles. Her friend Ralph has a large motor home and just enough income to keep it running and provide food enough for him, his partner Moni, and their small dog.
“Ralph is amazing,” said Lynelle. “When people were parked and camped on Daly Avenue just outside the city, Ralph helped everyone. He’s a former nurse and very capable. All Ralph needs is a place to park his vehicle — it would be so easy for the city and county to provide safe parking for people like Ralph, but they can’t seem to do it.”
In fact, officials from the City of Modesto have been working on a safe parking program for almost two years and still haven’t been able to make it work. Instead of safe parking and safe sleeping sites, both Stanislaus County and the City of Modesto continue to resort to sweeps and rousts as their primary strategies for dealing with rising numbers of homeless people. The Daly Avenue sweep left people like Ralph and Moni with nowhere to go, so they moved first onto a nearby street in the county, then into a spot within city limits. Most of the people without vehicles carried what few belongings they could into the city.
“It would be a lot easier to take care of homeless people if they had somewhere to go,” says Lynelle Solomon, “Every time they get swept, I have to relocate them. When I do, they’re devastated. Imagine losing the only place you have to sleep and the only place where you have friends.”
Over the years she’s been on the streets, Lynelle has developed a following among friends and fellow volunteers. People donate to her missions of mercy, follow her Facebook page, and oftentimes accompany her on her trips into some of Modesto’s and Stanislaus County’s most distressed neighborhoods. She’s also become a member of the Stanislaus Homeless Advocacy and Resource Enterprise (SHARE), a non-profit that works closely with government and law enforcement to provide assistance for homeless people in dire need.
Despite all the support, Lynelle often feels frustrated by growing numbers of people in distress.
“There’s a breakdown in our systems of care,” she says, “especially health care. I feel like I’ve failed to show people that we’re in a crisis.”
While local authorities continue to claim they’re making “great progress” on homelessness, Lynelle Solomon disagrees: “It’s worse now than it ever was,” she says. “Much worse.”
I want to help!
Here is a link to our Facebook page. Connect up with us. We could use the help!
https://www.facebook.com/sharestanislaus?mibextid=ZbWKwL
Thank you for your artical; I’m familiar with everything you’re saying…I also am a volunteer with homeless and mental health…I think we need to learn from other states; My friend lives in a state that there’s no homeless problem….I also know many that have been offered shelter and refuse it.Healing ourselves and assisting others in their healing is our main purpose…One soul at a time!!!!
Carmen,
Please share which states have no homeless problem. I want to do research and see how the homeless view it. There must be some homeless in every state.
You stated, you know many homeless who were offered shelter but refused it. Did those who refused ever offer reasons for refusal?
Everytime I hear about those who refuse shelter, something comes to my mind: what if no one refused shelter, where would all those hundreds be sheltered? It has become too convenient to blame the thousand or more homeless for refusing a shelter bed. Ever hear, build it and the people will come?
Buy property and set up a safe ground encampment and the homeless will come. Somewhere they do not have to guess if there is room enough or friends of theirs’ there.
There are so few shelter beds empty on a regular basis, I deduct that few are willing to make the trek back and forth across the city or county just in case there is an empty bed that particular day. Does the shelter answer the phone to let callers know when beds are available or if certain friends are there?
If some homeless people have grouped up together it is unlikely one will leave the group to seek a shelter bed. It is Human nature to not so likely leave off on one’s own if a group has tightly formed.
I am waiting for more comments calling for an encampment, and a parking lot for cars and RVs. I like hearing some are fairing better in an enclosed space they call their own. If tents and belongings are left alone and people know which certain space is their own spot, that would go along way towards a sense of security. It does not have to be everyone’s schtick
Who thinks safe ground where people will not be swept, is a better concept than a scant number of shelter beds and people scattered all over the city, unincorporated included?
The city of Modesto and the County contribute to the way things are because they will not put their best efforts to the task of changing zoning if necessary and buying land for encampment. We have seen how renting or short term loans work out
I would definitely love to help in any way I can.
Here is a link to our Facebook page. Connect up with us. We would appreciate the help!
https://www.facebook.com/sharestanislaus?mibextid=ZbWKwL
Salvation Army Shelter in Modesto is more permanent. You get a bed that’s yours. Not sure what your researching. You might want to go check it out. 330 9th st Modesto CA 95354. 2 meals a day. Hot showers, your own assigned bed. The problem is there’s Rules. Ty…..
LReichert,
EXACTLY HOW MANY BEDS IN ALL? THAT IS THE PROBLEM RIGHT THERE. ASSIGNED BEDS IS A PLUS, YET IT MEANS NOT ENOUGH BEDS, COMBINED WITH OTHER SHELTERS, TO SERVE THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY.
THUS SWEEPS AND LEGAL HASSELS SHOULD NOT BE HAPPENING TO THE HOMELESS, WITH OUT BONAFIDE REASON,
THAT IS ACCORDING TO THE 9TH DISTRICT COURT RULING. I DO CONCUR!
ANOTHER “PROBLEM” WITH “RULES”… MODESTO AND COUNTY HAVE THEMSELVES ALL TWISTED…NOT THINKING, THAT THE 9TH DISTRICT COURT DECISION IS SOMETHING THEY MUST OBEY: “THE PROBLEM.”
MY, “RULES” COME UP AGAIN AND AGAIN. GUESS IT DEPENDS ON WHICH “RULES” ARE OBEYED AND WHO IS NOT ADHERING TO THE “RULES”. WOULD YOU SAY? I, SAY…
PLUS, SALVATION ARMY
MAY NOT WANT TO SHARE WITH VALLEY CITIZENS WHAT THE RULES ARE, THAT YOU YOURSELF POINT OUT AS “THE PROBLEM.” YOU ARE WELCOME TO SHARE “THE PROBLEM.”
I AM QUITE EAGER TO LEARN FROM YOU…YOU SOUNDED LIKE YOU MEANT SOMETHING MORE THAN YOU USED WORDS TO EXPRESS.
TO BE VERY FRANK WITH WITH YOU, LReichert, I FIND YOUR STATING, “THERE’S RULES” AS “THE PROBLEM” IS VERY CANDID. WHAT COULD “THE PROBLEM” “RULES” BE? THE TONE IN YOUR EXPRESSION IS KEY…
ARE YOU INFERING THAT HOMELESS PEOPLE DO NOT LIKE “RULES” PERIOD? OR ARE YOU COMING RIGHT OUT AND ADMITTING HOMELESS PEOPLE DO NOT LIKE “SALVATION ARMY’S” “RULES”?
HELP ME OUT HERE, IF EITHER OR BOTH ARE WRONG, WHAT IS YOUR POINT? WHY WOULD “RULES” BE “THE PROBLEM”? COULD IT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH DELIVERY? TOO MANY COOKS IN THE KITCHEN PASSING OUT THE ORDERS? “RULES” NOT WELL THOUGHT OUT? INCONSISTENCY? ALL OF THE ABOVE? NONE OF THE ABOVE?
SALVATION ARMY IS CARING FOR A VERY VULNERABLE PEOPLE GROUP. THE BIBLE SAYS, TO “TAKE SOMEONE ASIDE IN PRIVATE AND TALK THINGS OVER IN PRIVATE,” IF THERE IS A “PROBLEM.” HOMELESS PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY, ARE EACH AND EVERY ONE TRAUMATIZED. THEY ARE WEAKER VESSELS. ARE THEY TREATED AS SUCH? DO THE “RULES” TAKE THAT INTO CONSIDERATION? THE 9TH CIRCUIT COURT TOOK THAT INTO ITS FINDING.
HOW MUCH SENSITIVITY TRAINING ARE THE STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS GIVEN? PARDON MY QUESTIONS, BUT I CAN NOT SEE WHY “RULES” ARE “THE PROBLEM” UNLESS THEY ARE BEING BARKED OUT, AS IF THE HOMELESS ARE IN THE ARMY NOW, WHEN THERE. I KNOW THEY ARE BARKED AT BY THE AUTHORITIES, WHEN NOT THERE. MAYBE WHEN ASKED TO LEAVE THERE. IS IT TONE, BODY LANGUAGE, FACIAL EXPRESSION?
THERE IS A RIGHT WAY AND A WRONG WAY TO TREAT EVERYONE. TWO WRONGS NEVER MAKE A RIGHT. PROFESSIONALS AND ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGISTS AND HUMAN RESOURCE PERSONNEL KNOW THAT. HOMELESS INDIVIDUALS/GROUPS KNOW THAT. WE ALL KNOW THAT. ALMIGHTY GOD KNOWS THAT. THAT IS WHY WE WERE GIVEN INSTRUCTIONS IN THE BIBLE AS TO HOW TO TREAT ONE ANOTHER.
IF I AM WRONG TELL ME, SET ME STRAIGHT…PLZ & TY…
We are very familiar with that shelter. The problem is that it is full.
The Director and staff there are doing wonderful work, but we need options for those who are too sick for this level of care, as well as those who feel unsafe in a congregate shelter, such as elderly and disabled.
I know that it’s not just community leaders that prevent recreational homeless camping its laws and police officers and its taking a toll on my life and not just my life our life free from police politicians.
Michelle,
I wholeheartedly agree!
This cold, heartless city, and county, due to nimbys, politicians and police, does not have to be as it is,
you know, that, I know that, other homeless individuals, couples, children, youth, families know that, people with a warm heart know…
It did not miss noticing that City Council, Ricci, asked the Police Chief what he thought about encampments, during the May 9, 2023, City Council meeting. I fully expected the Police Chief to throw a cold blanket on the encampment idea. He did not surprise. Disappoint he did…
From my viewpoint, certain thoughts and feelings come with the locale, the territory. Does not mean we cow to them. Abolitionists don’t!
We are going to break through that ice cold interior and exterior. We must band together. Pray. Alone they will pick off the vulnerable, they will play us like pawns in their game. They have already proven that as fact, often. How many lawless arrests? how many lawless sweeps? Since the 9th District Court response in favor of not subjecting any homeless to needless punishments.
These people look down on the needy and the abolitionists, alike. This, going on, flagrantly, is Environmentally Unjust.
They like wagging their tongues, shaking their heads, shrugging their shoulders and throwing their arms up in the air, thinking ‘what are we to do?’ They must, or they would find it in their hearts to do only the just actions. Regardless of any city or county big wigs. The solution does not require quantum scientists to put their noggins together and come through for a speedy solution. They know, we know, the 9th Street Day Center is only room for a small percent of the burgeoning crowd.
Times running out, what is it going to be?
There is absolutely no Godly reason for any of mankind to shun others in their desperate need…for the homeless to be subjected to such ravaging abuse is pure evil.
Modesto, certainly, is not living up to modesty. Politicians have a huge part in Modesto’s blatant conditioning.
I have such high hopes, still, for City Council member, Ricci. His warm heart and commons view, stands out, and speaks volumes. I hope he does not sit on the fence until he becomes Modesto’s next Mayor, or, until he replaces the County Chair. That would be a pity for all the homeless.
Perhaps he does not know his own skill set strengths, hidden away.
Exercise your talents to bring Modesto together, unfragment the citizenry, Ricci. You do have it in you. Your homeless population needs you, right now. Many may attempt to dissuade you, but when the city is finally working like fine clock work, even the dissenters will thank you, Ricci. You were born for such a time as this. You are being called out. Called upon. It is your time to shine forth. Save the day… May God bless you and favor you, Ricci!
Amen and amen!
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I feel safer living in a tent on the streets then I do at The Salvation Army. A lot of individuals should not be living in a low barrier shelter PERIOD!
Wonderful story Eric highlighting the depth of human compassion in action expressed in full bloom by Lynelle. Lets see, if the county has a homeless population of around 2,000 and if every 50 or so had a Lynelle, would the problem be solved? Of course not and why is that? It’s because they need the basics of what we call civilization: shelter and health care. What the Lynelle’s do, and we need 40 more, is bring them something even more important: Hope for something better, dignity, and home cooking!….
We the people can do these things and there are more Lynelles out there BUT what fails us are leaders who may have a notion of public duties but are severely lacking in action needed to provide adequate shelter and health care.
Yes, we have shelter and health care, I just hope you never have to use it!!
Yes, we can do better and we will as leaders are elected and action oriented ones are in the wings waiting for their time to come. 2018 was the start and 2022 added to the pool of electeds that get the right things done for the PUBLIC…
I would like to help.Where do I start?
Sheri: You can click on the links in the story to access Lynelle’s Facebook page or SHARE’s page; you can then communicate with them via Facebook messenger.
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