Carl Wolden may have held the record for days and nights spent under the Graceada Park Gazebo in Modesto, so it was a fitting place for his wake. After Carl’s death last November, Pastor Dan Lempenau set December 13 as the date for his celebration of life.
Over the nearly twenty years Carl was homeless in Modesto, a great part of that time was spent at the gazebo, especially during cold and rainy weather. Carl was a savvy veteran of homelessness and frequently kept himself and his beloved dog Little’s out of direct lines of sight. Often, he would hunker down behind a picnic table near the back of the gazebo, his bike and trailer concealed by tables and benches.
For several years, the Graceada Park Gazebo was also a refuge for a group of homeless friends Carl called “the family.” The family was a loose group of chronically homeless people who had formed bonds of friendship over the years, friendship that included “having each other’s backs” in mutual protection agreements.
Shortly after Carl’s wake, the Modesto Bee ran a story about increased citations for homelessness in the City of Modesto. According to local authorities, the steep rise in citations began in 2022, coincident with implementation of Modesto’s “Park Ranger Program.” According to the Bee,
“Rangers are tasked with enforcing park codes and addressing illegal camping, public consumption of alcohol, and vandalism. The Police Department issues citations, which act as notices or tickets, but only some become charges, which are criminal accusations.”
Actually, local law enforcement in Modesto and Stanislaus County had begun an “accountability” program prior to hiring Park Rangers, just after the worst of the Covid crisis. The accountability program began as a tactic to break up homeless camps of larger than ten people. It then escalated to including any homeless person who might be sleeping or resting in a public place.
Very early on, it became apparent to anyone on the ground that there were not enough shelter beds for Modesto’s homeless population, nor were there enough qualified staff people to manage the mentally ill, addicted, disabled, traumatized, elderly and cognitively challenged individuals who comprise a large segment of the homeless population. Given these indisputable facts, some observers wondered what the benefit was of hiring more people to chase homeless people around town.
One clear benefit, at least superficially, was the virtual elimination of homeless people from Graceada Park, Modesto’s crown jewel of public parks. People with nowhere else to go soon found that use of the gazebo required a permit; even a nap on the grass was subject to a citation or orders to “move along.”
The “benefit” in this case, of course, was not to homeless people but to the neighbors of the park, as well as to citizens who visit the park, most of whom seldom use the gazebo, especially during the winter months. There was also the benefit of paying rangers less than police officers to relocate homeless people, though police were still called to the park on a routine basis.
As for the homeless people, some relocated to Enslen Park, less than one block north. Others moved downtown, a couple of blocks south. Some died. Almost none found housing and work, first, because there is no housing they can afford and second because there’s not enough work that pays a living wage.
Thus, the chief benefit from Modesto’s Park Ranger Program is increased supervision of Modesto’s parks, not a bad thing. As for the problem of homelessness itself, there has been no net reduction in homelessness; in fact homeless numbers have grown, as have the number of citations.
As a tactic for reducing homelessness, hiring Park Rangers is like hiring more people to bail water from a sunken ship; in fact, the economic term for previously incurred expenses that can’t be recovered is “sunk costs.” Chasing homeless people around town from one spot to another doesn’t just represent sunk costs, it also raises the question of “return on investment” (RoI). With billions of dollars spent statewide on sweeps, what has been the RoI? It certainly has not been a reduction in homelessness, not in the City of Modesto nor in the State of California.
And while no one ever considers such things, it might be worth evaluating what the effects of Park Ranger Programs and other such tactics are on homeless people themselves. One effect is increased stress. As homeless camps are broken up, people are separated from their friends, the people who “have their backs.” The result is more fear, less sleep and greater brain trauma.
Over time, the minor offenses of homelessness rise to the level of misdemeanors. People with nowhere to go tend to get into trouble, if only for trespassing, loitering and littering. The longer people are homeless, the more likely they are to compile a criminal record. Citations become misdemeanors, misdemeanors become part of the criminal record and poverty morphs into crime, almost magically.
From the very beginning, homelessness has been widely viewed as a voluntary refusal to conform to social norms, a “choice” made by people who prefer idle sloth and degenerate drug use to responsible citizenship. In fact, the chief drivers of homelessness have been housing shortages, collapsed systems of care — especially health care — stagnant wages and increased costs of living.
Carl Wolden was able to escape the streets because neighbors around Graceada Park and friends who came to know him contributed to provide him with a place to lay his head — first a camper, then a motor home. He went from “transient” or “vagrant” status to good citizen almost overnight, at least in the eyes of the law. Of course, he also had a place to park, another prerequisite for good legal standing. After his death, a neighbor to Enslen Park who had known Carl for over a decade adopted his beloved dog.
As for Carl’s homeless friends, many of whom attended his wake, the vast majority are still homeless and under the watchful eyes of Modesto’s Park Rangers and Police Officers, who make sure to move them along should they venture under the Graceada Park Gazebo or lie down on Graceada Park grass.
First of all very well written I’m again homeless and in a wheelchair That means I have less places I can access to hide and sleep I know I will be getting cited But I have to go through the progress available again until I get housing
Thank you for this article. I’ve been homeless for 10 years because jobs are impossible to find and when we do find one it takes 3 minimum wage jibs to afford a place, and if you have children 4 or 5. And I had to resort to illegal means of support for quite some time. And then i was off the street with my child but had to pay nightly in motels. Eventually I was arrested and spent 6 months in jail. During such time, Everything I owned was stolen, and since my release, I have struggled to save my storage with the rest of mine and my child’s belongings. and in 4 days if I cant come up with $400 my storage will be auctioned off.
We are not all criminals and degenerates, but we eventually are forced into it because we are not afforded with jobs and affordable housing. And being homeless further increases the chances of never being able to get and maintain a job, then of course the ability to attain housing.
Very well written with insight, compassion and diplomacy. You will go far in the field of writing.
The state of affairs in Modesto, in California, are at an all time dismal low. Costs of all types are at a ridiculously high level, prompting many previously ‘good citizens’ into homelessness. It will continue to do so until the percentages near a 1/3 or almost 1/2 of the actual population.
While all the while, more and more homes sit empty, because no one can afford to live in them. It will continue the vicious circular cycle.
I remember a time in my life when people all over the country could inly dream of coming to California, even for a visit, just to see, the ‘Golden State’. With all it’s splendor, beaches, mountains, valleys, orchards, green farmlands where almost anything grew.
Now, we’re a mockery, a bad joke, a derisive meme. Be wary, for it’s true, “do unto others as you would have others do unto you”. No man is superior to another. No matter how well off, talented, or special you think you are, how you treat others ultimately tells all. Integrity tells all.
Did anyone else notice it said “Busting a homeless man in Modesto’s Graceada Park”, and there are at least four MPD units with at least six individuals pictured. Excessive? Expensive? Ridiculous!
I myself have been on both sides of this problem and homelessness is not a choice anyone chooses to make if half the people in this town would stop being “Karens” and actually having a heart and helping those who need it we may be better off but this town is too cold to help their fellow man and woman all they care about is themselves and the park rangers all they do is steal the homeless peoples stuff or throw it away how would they like us to come to their home and throw all their belongings away homeless people don’t have much as it is and here the park rangers complicate their lives even more by taking their stuff someone should do something about that as well.