Those few Valley citizens who get to know homeless people by name always notice when they’re missing. Rosario Quintana goes missing frequently, but because she’s almost always very visible, word gets around among people who know her whenever she turns up, which could be anywhere from Riverbank to Modesto and points beyond. In the late fall of 2015, Rosario was seen on Oakdale Road, south of Briggsmore Avenue. She had […]
Homelessness and Poverty in Stanislaus County
Homeless: Denial Still Dominates
One year ago, Modesto City Councilmember Kristi Ah You suggested we should allow homeless people to camp in designated areas, including places like Beard Brook Park. Today, Beard Brook Park is surrounded by a chain link fence and hundreds of Valley citizens are facing yet another winter with nowhere to go. Virtually paralyzed by the problem, the City of Modesto has been unable to offer solutions other than futile anti-camping […]
Homeless: Why We Need Casey’s Law
Though still little-publicized, more and more young people are falling victim to the demons of addiction, especially opioids. Law enforcement officials in Oakdale noticed a surge in heroin use among young people in 2013, and attributed it to the availability of cheap “black tar” heroin that has caught a rising number of teen-agers and young adults in the cruel trap of an addiction that drives a host of crimes ranging […]
Exodus at 624 Ninth Street Shows Government at Its Best
“We were ready for them to come in and start pushing people around, but it didn’t happen. People here would have gone to jail if they had come in and tried to force us out, but they didn’t. They just came in and tried to help.” There was genuine wonder in Jeremy Buchelew’s voice and eyes as he described the evacuation of Modesto’s now-notorious apartment building at 624 Ninth Street. […]
More Trouble at 624
Reports of a missing child brought a mini-fleet of police cars to 624 9th Street Saturday afternoon. Supposedly taken by a young woman known as “Baby Girl,” four year old Thomas (TJ) couldn’t be found in or around the building when his mother notified police. At least one resident of the condemned building thought the child had been taken away for a bath or shower. “We can’t use our showers […]
Falling Through the Cracks at 624 9th Street
When Israel Gonzales first heard there would be help moving to a new location, he was hopeful. “I don’t want to live in the park,” he says, “it’s not safe. There are too many bad people.” But two weeks after news of the condemned building at 624 9th Street in Modesto shocked city officials enough to allocate relocation money for tenants of the vermin-infested structure, Israel Gonzales still has nowhere […]