In a sweeping survey of housing needs in the San Joaquin Valley, the California Housing Partnership and the California Coalition for Rural Housing have concluded that the Valley needs 137,254 more affordable homes. Among the most troubling findings was that many hard-working Valley citizens live on the edge of homelessness because housing costs consume up to 70% of their incomes. Minimum wage earners are especially burdened. Of the eight Valley […]
Homelessness and Poverty in Stanislaus County
Homeless: It’s going to get worse
Every year, the community Continuum of Care (COC) does a Point-in-Time (PIT) count of homeless people throughout California. Thus far this year, 9 of the 13 most populous regions have reported. Of those 9, 8 regions counted more homeless people than last year. Conducted last January, the Stanislaus County count set a record of 1,923 people; the previous high of 1,800 people was in 2009, during the Great Recession. Still, […]
Homeless: 20+ years on the streets
Kenneth “Pops” Yarber became homeless in 1995, not long after a brain aneurysm put him in a wheelchair. Suddenly, he was forty years old and on disability. Not long afterward, the bank foreclosed on his house on 4th Street in Modesto, and he began bouncing from the streets to short stays with friends and relatives. A few years later, Pops was convicted of passing bad checks and using stolen credit […]
Homeless: Are Shelters Obsolete?
The rise in numbers of homeless shelters in the United States coincided with deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill in the late 1970s. During the same decade, runaway inflation—especially rising costs of living—left some members of the economy unable to keep up. The result was more homelessness. Over the years, socio-economic factors have continued to contribute to a rise in homelessness and consequent demand for more homeless shelters. Today, it’s clear […]
Beard Brook Village: The End Game
The last days of Beard Brook Village were like the aftermath of a natural disaster— people pawing through the rubble of discarded clothing, bicycle parts and cooking utensils, a stream of humanity pushing shopping carts, baby strollers, and wheel chairs to and fro, and loose dogs everywhere. The debris-strewn chaos of Beard Brook was in stark contrast to the city’s new encampment, tentatively called Gateway Village, where uniform rows of […]
Visions of the Homeless: A Cop’s View
One day a few weeks ago, volunteer homeless worker Jeri Lynn Matoza was watching Modesto Police Sergeant Mike Hammond cruise slowly through Beard Brook Village, Modesto’ s permitted homeless encampment. Every few yards, Hammond had to stop because someone wanted to talk. “Look at that,” said Matoza, “How often do you see homeless people voluntarily approach a cop? That’s the sign of a good cop.” Hammond says he wanted to […]
Faces of the Homeless: Alvaro
“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 […]
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: 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: 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 […]