“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 […]
Homelessness and Poverty in Stanislaus County
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 […]
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 […]
Homeless and Mentally Ill: the Families
Sadie Koch was stunned when she learned a few weeks ago that her sister, Mary Baca, is homeless. Though she hadn’t seen her in well over three years, Sadie, who lives in Escalon, thought Mary was still living in Modesto with her friend and partner Linda.* The sisters had never been particularly close, but reunited when Mary returned to the Valley from Los Angeles, where she worked for a supermarket […]
No Way to Sweep Homelessness under the Rug
Years after the explosion of homelessness in Stanislaus County, authorities are still trying to sweep it under the rug. No better example exists of the futility of the “Sweep them Away” policy than Beard Brook Park. Probably because it’s relatively remote and surrounded by industry rather than residences, Beard Brook has long been a favored location for chronically homeless people. Even after the bathrooms were destroyed by vandals and shut […]
Faces of the Homeless: Rosario, “Just Checking In”
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 […]
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 […]