“Christy Chavez would be alive today if we had safe sleeping for homeless people,” said Lynelle Solomon last Monday, July 31. “All she was looking for was a place to lay her head.”
Solomon was referring to the death of 27-year- old Christine Chavez on July 8 in Modesto’s Beard Brook Park. Though the cause of death is not yet officially determined, Chavez was run over by a tractor and mower while sleeping on a hillside in the park. Days after her death, family members were still picking up pieces of shattered bone and remnants of clothing.
Solomon visited the park after learning of Chavez’s death, and found a sixty-year-old woman in a tent in near 100-degree heat close to the site where Chavez was run over. Disoriented and without water, the woman was suffering from Parkinson’s disease. It was another case of a homeless person abandoned, alone, and in severe need with nowhere to go. After an emergency 911 call, the woman was taken away in an ambulance.
A volunteer outreach worker and member of Stanislaus Homeless Advocacy and Resource Enterprise (SHARE), Solomon had grown frustrated during a meeting with Stanislaus County Supervisors Buck Condit and Vito Chiesa. She and other members of the Modesto Citizens Action Group (MoCag) had presented the supervisors with a plan for safe camping for homeless people. They were trying to explain the urgent need to act now in behalf of people who have fewer and fewer places to sleep during a citywide crackdown on homeless people forced to lay down either on public or private property.
MoCag members argued that the county’s budget reserves were large enough to permit and manage safe sleeping sites for homeless people in the City of Modesto, where most of the county’s homeless population is located.
“Yes, we have the money,” said Supervisor Chiesa, “but it’s always a question of priorities.”
“Why can’t the first priority be human beings?” said Lynelle Solomon. “My people are out there suffering in the heat and don’t even have a place to lay their heads.”
“I can’t approve of something without seeing a plan,” said Supervisor Condit, who had already began studying the MoCag “441 Plan” after receiving it from MoCag member Richard Anderson, a retired college professor who produced and directed “Homeless in Modesto,” a documentary film first shown in 2018 at Modesto’s State Theatre.
Chavez’s death has served as a flash point in a city that continues to flounder as homeless numbers rise amid park closures and increasingly severe tactics from law enforcement to move homeless people along from the few places they have to rest. In a scathing editorial, Modesto Bee Opinions Page Editor Garth Stapley castigated “the dithering majority” of the Modesto City Council for failing to act on safe sleeping sites for homeless people with nowhere to go.
“What’s it going to take, Modesto?” wrote Stapley. “What’s it going to take, California? How many more vulnerable people like Christine Chavez have to die before we start asking why she was sleeping in a park in the first place?”
For Lynelle Solomon and members of the Modesto Citizens Action Group, it’s going to take a cooperative effort between the City of Modesto and Stanislaus County to provide safe sleeping sites for Modesto’s homeless population. Supervisors Condit and Chiesa agreed to review the MoCag plan. That could be a start toward a more humane and cost-effective effort for managing homelessness in Stanislaus County.
Even more importantly, it could be a start toward making human beings “the first priority.”
The 8/3/23 Bee article, Study ranks Modesto 5th least educated among 150 US cities, was yet another major negative for our community. It leads me to understand why we treat the least of us so harshly. Perhaps a much better educated community would also have a higher level of compassion and better able to engage other humans in need.
Asking a Chatbot about this correlation, the response was:
There is evidence to suggest that a better education can lead to a higher level of compassion, but it is not a direct or guaranteed correlation. Education can play a significant role in shaping a person’s attitudes, values, and behavior, including their capacity for empathy and compassion.
A few ways in which education may foster compassion are:
Increased Awareness: Education exposes individuals to diverse perspectives, cultures, and experiences. This exposure can help people understand the challenges faced by others, leading to greater empathy and compassion.
Critical Thinking and Perspective-Taking: Education can enhance critical thinking skills and encourage individuals to consider multiple viewpoints. This ability to see issues from various angles can lead to more understanding and compassion towards others’ struggles and perspectives.
Emphasis on Moral and Ethical Values: Some educational systems incorporate teachings about moral and ethical values. These teachings can promote compassion, kindness, and empathy towards fellow human beings.
Social and Emotional Learning (SEL): SEL programs in schools focus on developing emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills. They aim to cultivate empathy, compassion, and prosocial behaviors among students.
Altruism and Prosocial Behavior: Some educational institutions may encourage community service or volunteerism. Engaging in such activities can nurture compassion as individuals witness the impact of their actions on others.
However, it’s essential to note that education alone is not the sole determinant of a person’s level of compassion. Compassion is influenced by a complex interplay of various factors, including individual temperament, upbringing, cultural background, life experiences, and exposure to diverse environments.
Moreover, education can sometimes be misused or manipulated to promote biases or prejudices, so it’s crucial that the education provided is well-rounded and fosters empathy and inclusivity rather than reinforcing negative beliefs.
In summary, while education can positively impact a person’s level of compassion, it’s not the sole factor. Cultivating compassion is a multifaceted process that involves a combination of educational, social, and personal factors.
Hello, frank,
Loved your reply. The next to the last paragraph especially added to the point I was making on Eric’s, August 1, 2023, post “Homelessness and Work: Hard Facts…”, on a reply I made to someone else’s reply. As usual, I was on my soapbox, again. Some replays move me speak up. It’s there for critique.
There may be no best time to make a request of Valley Citizens and Facebook users, that they hold me up in prayer. I am asking for wisdom to make best health decisions. And, to locate wiser surgeons connected to a Northern CA hospital that has expertise using, or will to use, what are called non-blood derivatives or volume expanders during surgery
To know what I am talking of, any on-line research will name the non-blood products that Jehovah Witnesses use in place of blood products during transfusions. Myself, not a JW, has been experiencing difficulty contacting a JW who could recommend a way to move forward. They do not answer their phones at Kingdom Halls, as far as I can tell.
I am overdue for 2 or more surgeries, my local surgeons won’t proceed without blood transfusion and my health seems to be deteriorating.
Anyone who knows or is willing to look into this for me, please research on line “What do Jehovah’s Witnesses use in place of blood product transfusions.” Multiple sites will name products. But which hospitals have surgeons with experience using them or have a will to use them?
Thank you a head of time for all effort on my behalf. Please leave me a reply on one of Eric’s future posts or come back to this post or reply. I will look for your response. Only serious replys please.
I pray that Eric will be so kind as to allow this for me. I would not just spring this on anyone, if time were not most pressing.
I appreciate all the work you do, frank.
I want to gain my health back and be out and about with those lacking housing, as I have in the past. I want to sit across from decision makers and refuse to take, “No,” for any answers. Hoping I can continue contributing my thoughts to Valley Citizen posts and replies.
I am well aware of my propensity to get on my soapbox.
Hello Root! I asked the chabot your question and here is an answer:
Jehovah’s Witnesses, due to their religious beliefs, refuse blood transfusions and certain blood products, which they believe are prohibited by the Bible. However, they may accept alternative medical treatments and procedures that do not involve the use of whole blood or its major components. Some of the bloodless medical techniques and products they may consider include:
Cell Salvage/Autologous Transfusions: This method involves collecting and re-infusing a patient’s own blood during surgery or after significant blood loss.
Hemodilution: Before surgery, a patient’s blood volume is expanded with non-blood fluids, allowing for the dilution of red blood cells. This reduces the concentration of red blood cells lost during surgery.
Pharmacological Agents: Medications that promote clotting and decrease bleeding may be used to minimize blood loss during surgery.
Hemostatic Agents: These are substances applied to wounds to control bleeding.
Erythropoietin (EPO) Therapy: EPO is a hormone that stimulates the production of red blood cells, which can be used to increase the patient’s red blood cell count before surgery.
Iron Supplements: Patients may be given iron supplements to boost their hemoglobin levels before surgery.
Intraoperative Monitoring and Management: Advanced surgical techniques and technologies can be used to minimize blood loss and improve patient outcomes.
It’s important to note that medical practices and beliefs may vary among individual Jehovah’s Witnesses, and they may make different decisions based on their personal interpretations of their faith. In cases where a Jehovah’s Witness is facing surgery or medical treatment, healthcare providers typically work closely with the patient and their family to respect their religious beliefs while ensuring the best possible medical care.
(Edited for brevity) Frank, you are a God send,
Your list
replied back to me is thorough and highly useful to me. Thank you!
Again, thank you, frank. You ARE an earnest man.
Thank you, Eric, for allowing Frank and I to communicate.
Why don’t Modesto open up the old downtown jail. I know it’s not ideal and it would have to be closely supervised. It has cells that could be used for sleeping quarters and a restroom and sink, It’s a lot better then sleeping on a sidewalk or a under a bush. That way if they had someplace to sleep they would have to sleep in park. We also need public trash cans, it’s hard for them to throw there trash away if there is no trash cans. Put a small hole to discard the trash threw so they can not go threw it. Also if someone pays for garbage on there city bill the dump should be free. If someone dumps trash in my alley I am required to clean it up. So I clean it up and take the trash to the dump and have to pay $45. I thought property taxes helped pay to keep are streets clean. The city has received millions of dollars to help the homeless but cannot seem to find a place for them to put there trash let alone sleep. All the improvements the city is doing to try to make it a better place is not going to help if there is trash everywhere where. I realize the city is doing what they can to fix the problem but if someone camps in the alley parking lot or field when they leave they leave a mess. If it’s not picked up it gets scattered and others come along and add more trash to it, so if I try to help keep the city clean and pick it up to prevent this from happening and take it to the dump it not only cost me my time it cost me $45 also. I am not blaming anybody I am just trying to help find a solution.
I agree The trash receptacles Would be great And So would designated places to use the bathroom Since there are no public restrooms for anyone period
Not only are the police running the unhoused to the edges but if you get an unlawful lodging ticket in the park the judge also orders a stay away order as a condition of probation. This means any park, every park. You get one at the river and you can’t go back to the river for the 3 years of probation. So MPD is also moving people during the day away. Hopefully something is going to change but considering the past I’m not to hopeful about the future for all unhoused people.
In my personal opinion All that is forced compliance and Cruel and Completely Out of line In my opinion The homeless should get together and Sleep on the streets and sidewalk s around City hall until they have a safe place to be with the basic human necessities that every Human has a right to and should be treated in the same humane ways the homeless are people too and Should be treated as such I don’t care who you are You are just a pay check away from becoming homeless Think about that And Think about What , Where How Am I going to help myself When i don’t have an Real. Place to start
I am glad you brought that to everybody’s attention I have been homeless for awhile and have had experience with the law enforcement of Modesto. I have all ways been cooperative and respectful to them but there is this new park ranger and and officer that has been harassing me for too long they have left me with nothing I don’t have nothing but misdemeanors on my record. I was sentenced to informal probation for three years and I haven’t been to jail in five years and because of these people I have been to jail at least four times over the last three months now I have a stay a way order from the park where I am able to eat and go to worship that has been my routine for many years they feel like they have the right to determine what is valuable and what is not of somebody’s property and they have disposed of my stuff that was valuable to me from the start I have always had somebody to come pick up my property but they never let me contact them. Everytime my property gets taken it never comes back the way it was. I am not the only one who has had to start accumulating essentials that I need to survive over and over again
So the lady that was dropped off at the park who dropped her off there whomever did should be held accountable for her.
Also, why is it that Modesto is a drop off point for the homeless people that is because on every street corner you get free phones free this free that. If you leave dumpsters around town, the homeless are not gonna put their stuff in it. They’re gonna leave it wherever they wanna leave it because there’s no recourse for anything
Homeless people are not being delivered to Modesto for the free phones. That’s ridiculous. Most homeless people don’t have a place to charge a phone and the free ones are basically like a land line phone that has to be plugged in all the time to be on. One of the reasons folks may be delivered to Modesto is that the smaller towns are very strict. If you go to jail in the county your getting released in Modesto also. Also word of the great Gospel Mission has created the idea that there is a haven for the homeless in Modesto. When people have a friend or family member who becomes homeless they hear about the mission and believe that since Modesto gospel mission is available their loved one has somewhere to live so they are not stuck with the uncomfortableness of having to open their home to anyone. There are people who literally meet folks in Modesto online and on dating sites and our lured to Modesto and offered the world a job and place to stay. After they leave whatever behind and get to Modesto they end up robbed, scammed, used and lots of women being dropped off at the mission after they thought they found a husband and it turned into a one night stand. That is the sad truth for a large percentage of Modesto homeless who are not from here. Many of the not homeless well off citizens of the county enjoy playing games with vulnerable humans and using, abusing and dropping them off at the good ole gospel mission, hitting Scotty’s for some doughnuts and chuckling all the way back to their house. Housing scams is another one. Hey when I first relocated to Modesto as the rent increases pushed me further away from Tracy my hometown I ended up renting a home only to find the owner rented it to me the same week he lost ownership due to foreclosure. He owned a home in the bay area and a landscaping company in Modesto and bought the house on Gardenia for his family so he could stop commuting and have more time with his wife and kids. His wife having only married the man so that he would pay for her lifestyle dior and Gucci head to toe refused to move into the house in Modesto and so he could not sell or rent the home in Fremont and ended up losing the house on Gardenia to foreclosure. In a panic and guided by a local realtor they put a for rent sign in the front yard and as my family was driving around Modesto looking for a house to rent were the lucky ones caught up in these wealthy folks web. He was listed as the owner of the property and the foreclosure didn’t happen until a few days later so it seemed like it was okay to rent from Mr Gil and Mr Henriquez but after giving a $3000 deposit and renting for a few months the bank came knocking. I received cash for keys to relocate after working with the realtor the bank sent and vacated the property within the 30 days left it sparkling clean no need to file eviction. Here I thought I handled it like a responsible tenant. So why do property management companies view this a negative rental history? I don’t understand why this is being viewed as a negative against me and not a positive. Cash for keys reimbursed the deposit I paid but I was still left to deal with having moved my kids into a school district and then not being able to find another rental in the same area. Those people I rented from were dishonest and played the victim. They also harrased me no stop for money after I found out I had to move out. The wife would call and pretend to be a lawyer and threaten and harass me for money for the rent. Their financial advisor the realtor buddy also continued to lie about the foreclosure and called and came by several times threatening lawsuits and criminal charges if I didn’t hand over cash. As I’m packing up to move. There’s so many more extremely common scams that are facilitating people traveling to Modesto and becoming unhoused shortly after. It’s part of Modestos history really dating back to the gold rush era. Folks were lured up to Tuolumne to mine for gold. In Modesto traps were set to catch people coming down from the mountains with pockets full of gold. How clever of Modesto to let unsuspecting outsiders do all the hard work to get the gold and we just wait with various types of traps to take it from them. Nowadays there’s not much gold so instead the financial gain is extracted from exploitation of human beings in any and every way possible. Even the havens for the homeless are mostly just a way for people to live well and profit as they are paid well to provide services to the homeless community and they only provide the bare minimum as you probably noticed. A lot of money moving around and spent on these studies about finding solutions to the growing homeless population problems. We can count on any and every project being shot down by community members who really want to see a solution to remove these homeless people from their neighborhood but they absolutely do not want any type of housing or low barrier shelter anywhere near their house. Then it’s back to the drawing board for some more study time and no need to put any callouses on the hands building anything for the homeless. Really can’t we find some empty jails to put these people in?
Thank you for naming the names of the culprits.
I think all culprits need naming, out to the public. They have a list of evicted persons for the landlords to view. Tenants need their own list of those rental owners who breach the rental contract and/or who are the slumlord landlords. And all of the public needs notice of who those are whot cannot be trusted in business deals. Fair is fair.
There is a Facebook Group: Renters in Stanislaus, where this information can and has been shared since 2018!