• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Valley Citizen

Nature, Environment, History & Politics

The Valley Citizen

  • Arts
  • Education
  • Environment
  • History
  • Nature
  • Politics
  • Wit
  • About
  • RSS Icon

Merry-go-Round of the Homeless

August 29, 2015 By Eric Caine 3 Comments

Hi-Tech Homeless Transport
Hi-Tech Homeless Transport

Right after this summer’s breakout of homelessness brought about protests from urban residents, Modesto’s street people were on the move. Pushing and pulling their shopping carts and bike-powered transport systems, they frequented corridors along many of Modesto’s traffic arteries, only to land on a spot where the police would show up and tell them to move on.

Modesto officials soon learned that rousting the homeless from parks and other public places was like trying to clear sand from the desert with a leaf blower. You might move things around for a while, but the dust has to settle somewhere.

Lately, as the homeless have settled back into the parks there’s been a saner effort to adjust to their presence. The police have begun enforcing a benign policy that gives people their rights but keeps drug dealers away.

And though it hasn’t been widely publicized, there was always a strong current of public sympathy for the plight of so many people without a place to go. Those who saw the homeless up close realized that a large percentage of them are seriously disabled in one way or another. While some have hit the streets only recently, others have been homeless for years, many for reasons beyond their control.

As early as the fifteenth century, people realized the need to institutionalize the insane and did so in London’s Bethlem Royal Hospital. The hospital soon acquired the nickname “Bedlam.”

Five hundred years later, authorities in the United States decided we should de-institutionalize the mentally ill. In effect, we moved them outside.

Now, anyone can visit America’s “Bedlam.” Its former patients are on the streets, in the parks, and along the rivers. It’s often said that if you’re not crazy when you become homeless, you soon will be.

Part of the problem is the close quarters with those who suffer mental illness. The simplest transactions and exchanges become elaborate rituals of madness, as do routine errands.

Anyone who’s ever tried to help a crazy person soon learns what it’s really like down the rabbit hole. And even the sanest people can go mad trying to manage without bathrooms, storage places, and transportation while simultaneously dealing with public scorn and contempt.

Something as simple as giving a homeless person a ride to pick up a prescription can turn into an odyssey almost as adventurous as the Greek classic. Many homeless have no identification, no credit, and no access to the restaurants, pharmacies, and retail stores from which they’ve been banned. Their attempts to deal with these barriers range from hilarious to heart-wrenching.

The upshot is a circuitous maze of stops, starts, and detours for the simplest errand. Wasted time and effort are givens. By the end of the day, so little is accomplished it’s no wonder the hole they’re in seems deeper than ever.

Then there are the druggies. By the time a user hits the street, he or she is usually either in need of long-term rehab or beyond recovery altogether. It then becomes anyone’s call whether addiction or mental illness is the real issue.

Homelessness is where family values and professional opinion meet addiction and schizophrenia head on and run whimpering away.

Those few homeless people who retain semblances of sanity and are somehow able to take care of themselves have long since given up on remedies sanctioned by government officials. They’ve tried to make it on their monthly allotments, tried to find jobs, tried social services, prescription drugs, and self-help panaceas, all to no avail.

They will readily agree with those who say homelessness is their own fault. That still leaves them on the merry-go-round of the homeless with nowhere to get off.

 

 

Filed Under: Featured, History Tagged With: Modesto homeless

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Shirley Denney says

    August 29, 2015 at 3:57 pm

    I continue to agree with what you have written about our homeless population but I see nothing changing unless the powers that be decide to raise taxes to fund (re-open) state hospitals. You can’t have the milk unless you buy the cow.

    Reply
  2. Eric Caine says

    August 29, 2015 at 4:05 pm

    Couldn’t agree more Shirley. The anti-tax hysteria of the eighties had some bad consequences and the release of the mentally ill was one of them. Of course, there was also some bad professional judgment involved.

    Reply
  3. Brad Johnson says

    August 30, 2015 at 3:45 pm

    We should be fully funding public health care for all, treatment/support for homeless with a small cut to the military budget or a 2% ussery fee on wall street.
    The USA is one of the few 1st world countries that fails this test.
    We will need leadership not cheerleaders.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Note: Some comments may be held for moderation.

Primary Sidebar

Off The Wire

Warren: Voters Must Elect Dems In Midterms Who Would Nix Filibuster To Codify Roe
Warren: Voters Must Elect Dems In Midterms Who Would Nix Filibuster To Codify Roe
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) on Sunday said she views the midterm elections…
talkingpointsmemo.com
A Farmer’s Quest to Beat California’s Waves of Drought and Deluge
A Farmer’s Quest to Beat California’s Waves of Drought and Deluge
Don Cameron went all in on a trickle-down survival tactic. It could help save America’s agricultural heartland—even if he doesn’t survive the new water war.
www.wired.com
Ten Ways Billionaires Avoid Taxes On An Epic Scale
Ten Ways Billionaires Avoid Taxes On An Epic Scale
This article first appeared at ProPublica. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative…
talkingpointsmemo.com
A South Texan?s Wild, Life-affirming Quest to Break a National Birding Record
A South Texan’s Wild, Life-affirming Quest to Break a National Birding Record
When she began her year-long bird-spotting adventure, Tiffany Kersten was lost and lonely. She ended up achieving a major milestone and finding her way.
www.texasmonthly.com
Ron Johnson tried to hand fake elector info to Mike Pence on Jan. 6, panel reveals
Ron Johnson tried to hand fake elector info to Mike Pence on Jan. 6, panel reveals
A top aide said the Wisconsin Republican senator wanted to give Pence the list of pro-Trump electors as he prepared to certify the 2020 election.
www.politico.com
Raffensperger says he wishes Fox News carried every Jan. 6 hearing
Raffensperger says he wishes Fox News carried every Jan. 6 hearing
“I think it would have helped our party heal, given [people] more facts.”
www.axios.com
'Not safe anymore': Portland confronts the limits of its support for homeless services
‘Not safe anymore’: Portland confronts the limits of its support for homeless services
Homeless encampments now spill well beyond Portland’s downtown core, dividing a city that has invested liberally in support services.
www.latimes.com
Republicans Will Do It Again
Republicans Will Do It Again
They have not been chastened by the revelations of the January 6 committee.
nymag.com
Birdman
Birdman
Bird Brother: A Falconer’s Journey and the Healing Power of Wildlife
www.earthisland.org
The Potato Roll Empire Bankrolling Christian Nationalist Doug Mastriano
The Potato Roll Empire Bankrolling Christian Nationalist Doug Mastriano
The Martins were bit players in politics, until they put Doug Mastriano one step away from becoming Pennsylvania’s next governor.
nymag.com
Roger Stone and Michael Flynn under fire over rallies ‘distorting Christianity’
Roger Stone and Michael Flynn under fire over rallies ‘distorting Christianity’
Prominent Christian leaders accuse Trump allies of spreading misinformation about election and Covid, while distorting Christian teachings at ReAwaken America events
www.theguardian.com
Major water cutbacks loom as shrinking Colorado River nears 'moment of reckoning'
Major water cutbacks loom as shrinking Colorado River nears ‘moment of reckoning’
As the Colorado River water shortage worsens, major cutbacks are needed to reduce most perilous risks, a federal official tells senators.
www.latimes.com
Trump Scammed Supporters Out of $250 Million for Nonexistent Fraud Fund
Trump Scammed Supporters Out of $250 Million for Nonexistent Fraud Fund
Supporters who thought they were donating to “election integrity” instead saw some of their money funneled to Trump hotels
www.rollingstone.com

Find us on Facebook

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Footer

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Subscribe for Free

* indicates required

Search

• Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2022 The Valley Citizen

Dedicated to the memory of John Michael Flint. Contact us at thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Editor and publisher: Eric Caine

Website customization and maintenance by Susan Henley Design