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

The Valley Citizen

Pursuing truth toward justice

The Valley Citizen

Pursuing truth toward justice
  • Arts
  • Education
  • Environment
  • History
  • Nature
  • Politics
  • Wit
  • About

California homelessness

Homeless: It’s (not) the Drugs

March 18, 2023 By Eric Caine 71 Comments

Jim Pack and Sherry Lopez Modesto

It’s almost impossible to discuss homelessness without a chorus of loud and insistent voices shouting, “It’s the drugs!” While drug use is indeed common among homeless people, reliable data confirm it’s rarely the cause of homelessness. If drug use were the cause of homelessness, you would expect to see a correlation among states with high numbers of drug usage and high numbers of homelessness. There is no such correlation. Hawaii […]

Filed Under: History Tagged With: California homelessness, Homelessness and Poverty in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in Modesto, Homelessness in the San Joaquin Valley

Homeless — where your money goes Part V: The high costs of extravagant cruelty

March 7, 2023 By Eric Caine 19 Comments

Modesto Outdoor Emergency Shelter (MOES) 2019

As California politicians declare their commitment to dealing with homelessness, they should also acknowledge that it originates in the state’s chronic shortage of housing that shows no signs of abating. Dan Walters, 23 January, 2023 According to Lauren Lowry, Director for Housing and Community Development at the National League of Cities, “chronic homelessness costs the public roughly $30,000 to $50,000 per unhoused individual each year.” In 2019, when the City […]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Affordable Housing Modesto, California homelessness, Homelessness and Poverty in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in Modesto, Homelessness in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in the San Joaquin Valley

Homeless: Overdoses at the Recovery Center?

December 17, 2022 By Eric Caine 15 Comments

Stanislaus Recovery Center 16 Dec 22

Rumors among homeless people are like rumors anywhere else — as often unfounded or overblown as not. Nonetheless, persistent rumors that drug use and overdoses have occurred with increasing frequency at the Stanislaus Recovery Center (SRC) in Ceres seemed worth an inquiry, so on December 8 we asked about them via an email to Stanislaus County CEO Jody Hayes and Supervisor Mani Grewal. As yet, we’ve had no answers. SRC […]

Filed Under: History Tagged With: California homelessness, Homelessness and Poverty in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in Modesto, Homelessness in Stanislaus County, San Joaquin Valley homelessness, Stanislaus County Civil Grand Jury Report on Homelessness

Homeless: “Right now, we aren’t managing anything”

December 6, 2022 By Frank Ploof 6 Comments

Downtown Modesto, March 2020

Frank Ploof has served on several committees in Stanislaus County dedicated to homeless and housing issues, and has spent thousands of hours in direct contact with homeless people, trying to help in tangible ways with problems local authorities can’t address. He and Modesto resident Steven Finch are partners in the Stanislaus Homeless Advocacy and Resource Enterprise (SHARE) nonprofit, which is dedicated to serving the urgent needs of people in dire […]

Filed Under: History Tagged With: California homelessness, Frank Ploof, Homelessness and Poverty in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in Modesto, Homelessness in the San Joaquin Valley, St

Homeless? Gavin Newsom Passes the Buck

November 18, 2022 By Eric Caine 8 Comments

Man living in car, Modesto, 2021

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s presidential ambitions hinge as much on appearances as they do realities, and the unsightly presence of homeless people throughout California is a reality he can’t make disappear. Born of desperation fostered by the futility of his own efforts to eliminate homelessness, Newsom has decided to blame California’s mayors for his own failure to understand the fundamental nature of a humanitarian emergency that grows worse by the […]

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: Beard Brook Park Homeless camp, California homelessness, Caltrans homeless sweeps, Gavin Newsom homelessness, Homelessness and Poverty in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in California, Homelessness in the San Joaquin Valley, Homelessness Modesto

Homelessness has Closed our Minds and Curdled our Hearts

September 19, 2022 By Eric Caine 10 Comments

Alan Davis, March, 2020

“Despite enormous funding for homeless programs, and despite the fact that there are many individual successes, overall the system to date has not reduced homelessness.” Stanislaus County Civil Grand Jury, June 2022 Voluminous evidence shows that most people experiencing homelessness suffer from forces beyond their control. Despite this evidence, far too little has been done to alleviate their plight. The vast majority of American citizens help people in need whenever […]

Filed Under: History Tagged With: California homelessness, Homelessness and Poverty in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in Modesto, Homelessness in the San Joaquin Valley, Homelessness Stanislaus County

Homeless: Word from the Camps

July 4, 2022 By Eric Caine 8 Comments

Homeless camp near Pecos Modesto

Word from the camps is you can’t get the black* anywhere. It’s fentanyl or nothing. People are dropping almost every day. “You lookin’ for Cash Money? Cash is dead. He overdosed last year. Fentanyl. Yeah, don’t believe Cash was much over 40 years old, maybe younger. People are dropping. Dropping everywhere.” “Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than […]

Filed Under: History Tagged With: California homelessness, Fentanyl in the San Joaquin Valley, Homelessness and Poverty in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in Modesto, Homelessness in the San Joaquin Valley

Homeless: The Cruel Realities of People in Need

March 26, 2022 By Eric Caine 5 Comments

Cathy Heap Broadway Park Turlock March 2022

When Steve Finch and Frank Ploof founded Stanislaus Homeless Advocacy and Resource Enterprise* (SHARE) early last year, Ploof had already had almost ten years’ experience working to help people experiencing homelessness. Finch was new to the task, but thought his experience with Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), an organization that assists abused and needy children, would provide a model he and Ploof could apply to needy homeless people. The CASA […]

Filed Under: History Tagged With: California homelessness, Homelessness and Poverty in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in the San Joaquin Valley, Modesto Homeless Documentary Project

Homeless: Taking Back the Parks

August 3, 2021 By Eric Caine 16 Comments

Sherry Lopez June 29 2021

Little Sherry Lopez can’t go to the park. Everyone calls her “Little Sherry” because she’s the smallest Sherry they know. Little Sherry is well short of five feet tall. She’s closer to four feet tall. She’s a few years past forty years old. Little Sherry is developmentally and physically disabled. She walks haltingly and often has difficulty with simple concepts. Other than “little,” the most common word people use to […]

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Beard Brook Park, Beard Brook Village, California homelessness, Modesto Homelessness, San Joaquin Valley homelessness, Stanislaus County homelessness, Stanislaus County Low Barrier Shelter

Primary Sidebar

Off The Wire

California faces catastrophic flood dangers ? and a need to invest billions in protection
California faces catastrophic flood dangers and a need to invest billions in protection
A new state plan for the Central Valley calls for spending as much as $30 billion over 30 years to prepare for the dangers.
www.latimes.com
Oakland will get millions for the ?inhumane? crisis at one huge homeless encampment. Officials say it?s not enough
Oakland will get millions for the “inhumane” crisis at one huge homeless encampment. Officials say it’s not enough
Gavin Newsom’s administration has awarded Oakland a $4.7 million grant to come up with…
www.sfchronicle.com
Alaska?s Fisheries Are Collapsing. This Congresswoman Is Taking on the Industry She Says Is to Blame.
Alaska’s Fisheries Are Collapsing. This Congresswoman Is Taking on the Industry She Says Is to Blame.
Mary Peltola won her election by campaigning on a platform to save the state’s prized fisheries. A powerful fishing lobby is standing in her way.
www.politico.com
Jimmy Carter's final foe: A parasitic worm that preyed on millions in Africa and Asia
Jimmy Carter’s final foe: A parasitic worm that preyed on millions in Africa and Asia
One of former President Carter’s biggest hopes is wiping out an infectious parasitic disease that’s plagued humans for millennia. How close is he?
www.latimes.com
Climate Extremes Threaten California?s Central Valley Songbirds - Eos
Climate Extremes Threaten California’s Central Valley Songbirds – Eos
A “nestbox highway” in California’s Central Valley is guiding songbirds to safe nesting sites and giving scientists a peek at fledgling success in a changing climate.
eos.org
Alaska Republican touts benefits of children being abused to death
Alaska Republican touts benefits of children being abused to death
Republican David Eastman suggested the death of child abuse victims could be a “cost savings” to wider society.
www.newsweek.com
Editorial: Newsom's drought order amid wet winter threatens iconic California species
Editorial: Newsom’s drought order amid wet winter threatens iconic California species
Gov. Gavin Newsom has effectively ended environmental regulations protecting California rivers and migratory fish by extending drought-year waivers.
www.latimes.com
Two-thirds of McPherson Square homeless remain on street, D.C. says
Two-thirds of McPherson Square homeless remain on street, D.C. says
As of Thursday, just two of the more than 70 residents of McPherson Square had been placed in permanent D.C. housing.
www.washingtonpost.com
More Building Won?t Make Housing Affordable
More Building Won’t Make Housing Affordable
America’s housing crisis has reached unfathomable proportions. But new construction isn’t enough to solve it.
newrepublic.com
Why YIMBYs are about to sue the daylights out of cities across the Bay Area
Why YIMBYs are about to sue the daylights out of cities across the Bay Area
Housing advocates are about to deliver a message to the Bay Area: Comply with state…
www.sfchronicle.com
At the heart of Colorado River crisis, the mighty 'Law of the River' holds sway
At the heart of Colorado River crisis, the mighty ‘Law of the River’ holds sway
At the heart of tensions over water allotments from the Colorado River is a complex set of agreements and decrees known as the ‘Law of the River.’
www.latimes.com
Biden restores roadless protection to the Tongass, North America's largest rainforest
Biden restores roadless protection to the Tongass, North America’s largest rainforest
The Tongass National Forest in Alaska, a focus of political battles over old-growth logging and road-building in forests for decades, has received new protection from the Biden administration.
theconversation.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 © 2023 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