“I want to work, but my hands hurt all the time. They hurt real bad,” says Alvaro Gayton, who’s been at Beard Brook Village in Modesto’s Beard Brook Park since last September. Gayton’s last job was at a Modesto Restaurant specializing in barbecue and smoked meats. “I cooked all day and washed dishes at night,” he says. “I was the only one who really knew how to smoke meat the […]
Search Results for: homeless
Homeless: There were Only Eight of Us
With the wind kicking up and another storm on the way, Bobby Short spent part of last Wednesday making sure his tent and tarps were tied down. Then he helped a neighbor wrestle a lightweight tent into a place where it too could be secured. Bobby has been at the homeless camp in Modesto’s Beard Brook Park for about three months— ever since a dispute with his landlord. He says […]
Homeless? Poor? It’s the (STUPID!) Economy
An overflow crowd at Modesto’s first permitted tent encampment in Beard Brook Park has grown to over 400 residents in a few short months and there’s still no shortage of homeless people in their usual haunts, including downtown Modesto. And until there’s better comprehension of the realities behind traditional economic indicators like stock market reports and official unemployment figures, the numbers of homeless and poor people will only continue to […]
Homeless: Stanislaus County Workers Bring Christmas Spirit
A bevy of Stanislaus County service workers, many wearing purple T-shirts emblazoned with the motto, “Together We Rise,” brought food and comfort to the homeless encampment at Beard Brook Park Saturday, just three days before Christmas. Working off the clock, many of the workers are part of the county’s outreach effort and know village residents by name. They helped distribute pizza, pillows, blankets and Christmas cheer to the hundreds of […]
Homeless: Time to Commit to Beard Brook Village
Flooded and collapsed tents at Beard Brook Village became routine as the first real storm of the season hit Modesto this week. The heavy downpour ran off the road above the tents at Beard Brook Park, cut channels along the sloping hillside, and wreaked havoc with campers ill-prepared for heavy rains. With little to no vegetation on the hillside, the clayey soil became dangerously slick on its surface and sticky […]
Homeless: Will Beard Brook Village Survive?
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 […]
Homeless: Do We Really Have Enough Money?
Spokespeople for Stanislaus County’s “Focus on Prevention” program for the homeless have been saying for months that, “Money’s not the problem.” For people who’ve been on the ground dealing with the burgeoning homeless population, the claim just doesn’t make sense. Especially since the City of Modesto opened Beard Brook Park to campers, the extent of the homelessness has become more and more evident. Within a couple of weeks, almost 200 […]
Homeless in Beard Brook Park: “The rent just got too high.”
The Morris brothers, Harvey, aged 71, and Daniel, 69, say their landlord raised the rent and kicked them out when they complained about the roaches, rats, and black mold in their apartments. The landlord—an absentee owner—would most likely say the brothers trashed their units and ignored warnings to take better care of them. It’s a routine argument whenever affordable housing issues are raised in California. The bottom line: No matter […]
Homeless: Is Camping the Answer?
Daniel Shockley says he’s been homeless , “About four months, this time.” Shockley had been living with his girlfriend near Modesto’s Fourth Street when a breakup left him with nowhere to go but the park. “The police were real nice,” he said Thursday. “They helped me move all my stuff here. Otherwise, it would have meant too many trips.” Shockley still doesn’t have a tent. Like other new arrivals, he […]
City Finally Listens to Kristi Ah You on Homeless—Maybe
After the tents popped up in Modesto’s Graceada Park last Tuesday, the news traveled like lightning through neighborhood group email lists: “They’re allowing camping in the parks.” Whether, “they,” meaning the City of Modesto, are really allowing camping in all the city’s parks remains to be seen. The confusion is the result of a ruling by the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The court wrote, “a municipality cannot […]