“We have a disconnect with our citizens about what services are available for homeless people and how easy it is to access them,” said Modesto businessman Steven Finch recently. “People are comforted when they see large buildings and lots of staff workers dealing with homelessness, poverty, and mental illness. They read about $22,000,000 coming to Stanislaus County for homelessness and they think, ‘That should do it; all fixed.’” In fact, […]
Homelessness in Modesto
Homeless: Coming Soon to a Park Near You
It took a couple dozen specialists in hazardous waste removal, several Caltrans officials and workers, and three or four Highway Patrol Officers to remove a homeless camp along Highway 99 on Monday, January 4. That’s in addition to the 18-wheel trucking rig that was needed to haul off the tents, lean-tos, and accumulated trash. Most of the campers along the strip had moved across south Seventh Street in Modesto from […]
No, Mr. DeMartini, Homeless People are not Bums
There’s a lot to unpack in Stanislaus County Supervisor Jim DeMartini’s recent comments about homeless people, but let’s start with his claim that they’re “bums.” Not too long ago, most any high school senior could have recognized such an assertion as a hasty generalization, but after decades of talk show bombast and free market propaganda, too many people agree with DeMartini, no matter how much evidence to the contrary. Included […]
Forget Affordable — it’s Time for Tiered Housing Options
Well over six years after Stanislaus County launched its “Focus on Prevention” program to reduce homelessness, local streets, parks, riversides, freeway margins and the undersides of bridges are full of people with nowhere to go. The situation is the same throughout the San Joaquin Valley. Statewide, efforts to place homeless people in shelters, hotels, and repurposed motels have been met with resistance from nearby businesses and residents who complain of […]
Homeless: The Covid Correction
For many of us, the cause of homelessness is simple: “It’s the drugs.” Not far behind drugs as a cause of homelessness is the belief that, “They’d rather be homeless than work for a living.” This explanation goes back to Ronald Reagan’s declaration in 1982 that, “the people who are sleeping on the grates — the homeless who are homeless, you might say — by choice.” Neither explanation is going […]
Homeless: When the System Fails
Last Tuesday, while he was pushing a wheelchair-bound, double-amputee along the shady sidewalks of Modesto’s La Loma Avenue, Frank Ploof had plenty of time to think how he’d gotten there. It was circuitous story, one that always seemed to begin and end in the same place. Just the day before, after Ploof had learned Alan Davis was badly soiled and in dire need of a shower, he had paid Davis […]
Defund? These Cops are Already Defunded
Bernie Sanders, who understood underfunding of social services in America long before most other people, was incredulous when talk started about defunding police departments. Like most close observers, Sanders understands how law enforcement has changed over the years. “I think we want to redefine what police departments do, [and] give them the support they need to make their jobs better defined. So I do believe that we need well-trained, well-educated, […]
Poor and Homeless: The Plague after Corona
And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand Our New Normal Just a little over eleven years after George W Bush signed the $700 billion Emergency Economic Stabilization Act to save banks and financial institutions from defaulting on mortgage backed securities, the Trump administration is into a second round […]
Coronavirus? Just Chase it Around Town
Imagine some of the most vulnerable residents in your town being chased from place to place during a pandemic. Imagine that their only access to hygiene is public restrooms, back alleys, and the great outdoors. Fanciful as it may sound, that’s exactly the case with members of Modesto’s homeless population who didn’t make it into the county’s new 182 bed shelter on 9th and D Streets in Modesto. When the […]
Homeless: Time to Focus on Accountability
The sign on J Street reads, “Cruising Prohibited.” Below that, “Loitering Prohibited, 6pm to 6am.” Another warns, “This area is under video surveillance.” It’s very doubtful Alan Davis, the amputee across the street, ever reads the signs, even though he’d haunted downtown Modesto for months before being taken by volunteers to the Modesto Outdoor Emergency Shelter (MOES) last fall, where he had a tent, a bed, and routine checkups of […]