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Homeless: Will Beard Brook Village Survive?

November 16, 2018 By Eric Caine 4 Comments

Modesto — News that Stanislaus County Sheriffs enforced removal of a homeless camp in Turlock has prompted increased concern among homeless advocates that the encampment in Beard Brook Park may soon suffer the same fate.

Now rechristened, “Beard Brook Village,” Beard Brook Park has long been a favored site for homeless campers, some of whom have frequented it on and off for a dozen years. Its isolated location in an industrial neighborhood reduces the complaints from homeowners that plague homeless people in most other parks to a scattered few.

But homeless people in Beard Brook were subjected to increased vigilance from authorities when Modesto’s new Mayor and City Council vowed to, “take back our parks.” Whereas in most parks this simply meant more than the usual police presence, in Beard Brook an ambitious clean-up included installation of a dog park and plans to encourage more use.

Many people wondered whether the dog park was worth the time and expense, given Beard Brook’s isolated location, but others saw the project as symbolic of the city’s commitment to resolving a homeless problem that has only worsened over the years.

But a recent decision by the Ninth Circuit Court that cities must allow homeless people to sleep in public spaces absent other alternatives precipitated a decision by city authorities to offer Beard Brook as an “alternative” in the form of a permitted encampment. Two months after that decision, almost 400 people have come to, “Beard Brook Village,” and more arrive every day.

Homeless advocates who have argued the city and county need a “low-barrier” shelter have praised the encampment as the least expensive alternative to spending millions on a new shelter or “navigation center” that wouldn’t really meet homeless people’s needs. Nonetheless, city and county officials have emphasized all along that Beard Brook Village is a temporary solution until a better way can be found to address the court’s ruling.

Now that homeless people have been rousted from the Turlock location, it appears local authorities may be pushing back against the idea that allowing sleeping is tantamount to allowing camping. There have also been rumors that some city and county officials have been against allowing camping from the beginning. If so, it could mean they prefer a return to the vicious circle of chasing homeless people from location to location and back again.

There could also be a less obvious reason for removing the encampment. With over 400 homeless people situated in one location, the inadequacy of local social services to address homelessness is completely exposed. Justification for the expense of shelter and navigation centers has always been based on the notion that once homeless people were connected to the appropriate services, they could be mainstreamed and housed.

The reality is that even if there were services that could somehow quickly rehabilitate homeless people to mainstream status, there’s nowhere near enough affordable housing available even for those few who might manage to generate enough income to pay for it.

And anyone with real world exposure to homelessness quickly realizes the high percentage of mentally ill, disabled, and elderly people in the homeless population will require more than transitional services, beginning with a place to live. Many will require assisted living and supervision. The dollars needed for even that segment of the homeless population just aren’t available.

While encampments like Beard Brook Village may not offer a perfect solution to homelessness, they offer a far better alternative than chasing people around in circles. And once they understand the futility of spending millions on navigation centers that can only tell the majority of homeless people there’s nowhere to go, local authorities might just consider putting money into affordable housing, where they’ll get a far better return on their investment.

 

 

Filed Under: History

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. David O. Fuller says

    November 16, 2018 at 2:45 pm

    If the good citizens of our city would listen and I mean truly listen to the homeless they would have already gotten the message.

    Reply
  2. Otto says

    November 16, 2018 at 11:16 pm

    The vastly different reasons people are homeless is simply lost on most people, I think that is the number one, or two, reason it is so difficult to formulate solutions. Uncontrolled drug habits, bad attitudes, being very poor and experiencing unfortunate circumstances, no support, suffering from mental illness, dealing with physical disabilities or illness, poverty wages, etc., any of these factors can be a cause of homelessness, but are usually found in some combination; thus, many approaches are necessary. If society could grasp that then we would stand a better chance at solving the problem.

    Reply
  3. frank says

    November 17, 2018 at 8:35 am

    “A problem well defined is half solved”- John Dewey.
    When one understands BBV they will understand the real Homeless issues.
    In doing so they will also develop real solutions for the Homeless,
    not ones developed from abstract and mistaken views!

    Reply
  4. John Gunderson says

    December 5, 2018 at 4:28 am

    A piece from BB Park

    Maryann Spikes: John Gunderson, Christina Kenney with Turning Point’s Empowerment Center has been there past two days and hopes to complete the week to get a good idea how her staff can be present and effective.
    1
    Manage
    Like · Reply · 55m · Edited

    John Gunderson Of course NGOs are part of the mix but I haven’t read anything about County seriously seeking better accommodations other than the old Scenic hospital for special cases. There’s access to sewer and water all along the Tuolumne River. Enclaves of microhousing are more easily managed (well humanely at least) than what BeardBrook is suffering. Empathy should kick in and provide motivation to things done. Also microhousing would allow NGOs to have certain specialty enclaves that they focus on like families with small children, those with morbidity, those with pets (obvious challenge), singles and any other “focus” group. Microhousing allows this very inexpensively but local government would have to cooperate with infrastructure support and locations near the 2 most important utilities…. water and sewer. Go solar with flash water heaters. I think the value per $ would be very good even though County and City cough that funds are scarce. Really it has much to do with the will to get something done. Scarce on funds? See my FB section of notes, plenty on how State has screwed our County and City out of revenue through the years. In 1976 we were considered a Negative Bailout county and was lumped in with Mariposa, Alpine, Trinity, Lassen, Plumas counties because the need for social services was minimal. Today we are not the county of 1976 by a long shot. This bit of knowledge should provide impetus for enclave micro housing. If we can shine in this way and the many other positives we have perhaps the rest of the state will notice and change this cursed revenue sharing regimen we suffer under. As long as there have been civilizations, fairness to districts has been a wrestling match. Oh… and leadership amongst the homeless themselves would be crucial for any success.

    Reply

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