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Homelessness in California

Stanislaus County: Where Government Fails the People

May 19, 2022 By Eric Caine 5 Comments

Ninth Street Modesto 2021

When incumbent Stanislaus County Supervisor Terry Withrow brags about his leadership, he likes to compare the county to the City of Modesto. That’s what he did during an interview with the Modesto Bee when he said, “Look at how the city is doing and ask if you want that kind of leadership for the county.” Withrow is running for office against Tony Madrigal, a current Modesto City Councilmember. Withrow was […]

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Homelessness and Poverty in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in California, Homelessness in Modesto, Homelessness in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in the San Joaquin Valley, Stanislaus County Supervisor Terry Withrow, Terry Withrow, Terry Withrow for Supervisor

Homeless: When False Narratives Fail

March 14, 2022 By Eric Caine 11 Comments

Homeless and mentally ill

For decades, there were a few stock responses to homelessness: “They don’t want help — it’s the drugs — they’re bums” were among the most popular. “They made bad choices” wasn’t far behind. Though none of these explanations holds up to thoughtful reflection, they comprised the largest part of the conventional wisdom about homeless precisely for that reason — they enabled most of us to avoid thinking about a problem […]

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

Homeless: The Accountability Papers No. 1

February 1, 2022 By Eric Caine 18 Comments

Willie Green Modesto 2021

Early last year, Stanislaus County officials added accountability to their list of tactics for managing rising numbers of people with nowhere to go. Puzzled by the new standard, volunteer and homeless advocate Frank Ploof asked county management and staff members repeatedly, “Accountable for what?” None ever offered an answer that made sense to people with no means to be accountable. Despite repetitious memes about people “choosing” homelessness and the widespread […]

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

Homeless: Your (Regressive) Tax Dollars at Work

December 13, 2021 By Eric Caine 6 Comments

November Sweep Modesto one

The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but cannot do, at all, or cannot, so well do, for themselves in their separate, and individual capacities. Abraham Lincoln As homeless numbers continue to rise along the West Coast, more and more voters are beginning to realize that the failure of political leaders is among the chief reasons the problem is […]

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

Homeless: The (almost) Unbearable Burden of Shelters

November 23, 2021 By Eric Caine 13 Comments

Emergency at Berberian Shelter Modesto

“Almost all emergency shelters of today are over their heads,” said Major Harold Laubach at Modesto’s Salvation Army Shelter on November 19. “But for people with mental health issues, we are probably the best alternative. Forty percent of our residents deal with mental health challenges and another 40 percent deal with substance abuse challenges.” Laubach was responding to a growing litany of complaints from residents of Stanislaus County’s low barrier shelter that rules […]

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

RIP Edward “Popeye” Peacock

November 7, 2021 By Eric Caine 9 Comments

Popeye at sunset, 9th Street Bridge

“You don’t retire from the Angels,” said Edward “Popeye” Peacock, “you just go inactive.” Popeye’s tales of riding with the Hells Angels may have been his way of warning people not to underestimate the prowess of a man just a bit over five feet tall and a few degrees north of one-hundred pounds. The stories may or may not have been true; he did appear to know quite a bit […]

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

Homeless: The Wonderful Alchemy of Work

November 5, 2021 By Eric Caine 8 Comments

In the end, it wasn’t the beatings, the sexual abuse, the hunger or the ugly words that broke Carrie Turnquist; it was the indifference of others. After she was badly beaten when a passenger in a passing car jumped out, pulled her hair back and began punching her in the face and head, she lay on the sidewalk while people watched and did nothing. “I felt like a dog that […]

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

Homeless by Any Other Name

October 20, 2021 By Eric Caine 19 Comments

Modesto CA 2021 near Gospel Mission

“I returned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happenth to them all.” After a woman died from an apparent suicide in Modesto, a report in the local newspaper said that, “The Coroner’s Office […]

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

Homeless: When There’s Nowhere to Go

October 6, 2021 By Eric Caine 15 Comments

Jimmy Young Modesto 2021

When he’s sitting on the sidewalk, which is whenever he’s not sleeping on the sidewalk, Jimmy Young’s flesh hangs on him like the collapsed folds of a hot air balloon. It’s said that at one time Jimmy was impressively large. Since then, he’s been caving into himself. Jimmy eats whatever people bring him. If he’s lying down, he stuffs the food into his mouth until his cheeks bulge. Then he […]

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

Homeless: HEART Team Helps a Vet — For Now

September 6, 2021 By Eric Caine 9 Comments

Modesto Mayor Sue Zwahlen and HEART Team August 2021

Every city and town had them. They were the old men on small pensions nodding on park benches or leaning up against buildings with their hands clutching small bottles of Night Train, Thunderbird, or rotgut whiskey wrapped in brown paper sacks. The boarding houses and cheap hotels they inhabited were called “flophouses” or “rat traps.” The elevators and stairwells smelled of urine and Lysol. Some, like Louis X (not his […]

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

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Off The Wire

A South Texan?s Wild, Life-affirming Quest to Break a National Birding Record
A South Texan’s Wild, Life-affirming Quest to Break a National Birding Record
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Liz Cheney, defying the G.O.P., offered a searing indictment of the former President at Thursday’s hearing.
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Trumpworld Lied To Your Face About The Election
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