Home Tags Homelessness in Modesto

Tag: Homelessness in Modesto

More Sweeps? Why California Fails on Homelessness

Even before Gavin Newsom’s statewide order to clear camps, Modesto’s homeless people were saying Stanislaus County Sheriffs had already started arresting people with no place to go. Whether that’s the case or not, jail time for homeless people is the expected outcome after the Supreme Court ruling on Grants Pass vs Johnson on June 28. […]

What if Homeless People aren’t who we Think they are?

The name “Larry” below is a pseudonym. He’s still on the streets, last we knew. ed. I walked into the camp thinking I’d done as much as I could to be safe. Still, I felt twinges of fear. A few years ago, before the systematic sweeps of camps throughout the city and county, I’d usually […]

Modesto Councilmember Kicks Hornets’ Nest on Homelessness

Modesto City Councilmember Nick Bavaro raised a lot of hackles during the May 7 meeting of the Modesto City Council. The item in question was what appeared to be a routine funding approval for the Salvation Army to continue operating a day center at the Berberian Shelter, which includes a traditional Salvation Army shelter and […]

Homeless in Modesto: A Tale of Two Cities

The last week of April in Modesto featured two of the city’s biggest public events, the State of the County report and, “Love Modesto,” the annual rite where volunteers display their civic pride with a citywide cleanup of trash and grafitti, while planting gardens, handing out hygiene kits and donating food packages, among other charitable […]

California Fails on Homelessness says Statewide Audit

It came as no surprise to people who’ve watched state and local authorities fail to manage homelessness that those same authorities don’t know where the money goes. Recent reports from a statewide audit of homeless programs and expenses concluded that, “the State must do more to assess the cost-effectiveness of its homelessness programs.” Reviews of […]

Former Councilman Explains Anger over Tiny Homes for Homeless

Former Modesto City Councilmember Bruce Frohman lives in the Woodland West neighborhood where the City of Modesto has proposed locating a tiny home community for homeless people transitioning to traditional housing. Below, he explains the anger and confusion that arose when he and his neighbors learned about the proposal. ed.  Before notifying the potentially affected […]

Angry Neighbors Protest Proposed Tiny Homes for Homeless

“This is the democratic process,” said Modesto City Councilmember Chris Ricci to a restive crowd of well over a hundred people at Modesto’s Church of the Brethren near the conclusion of a March 29 community meeting to discuss a proposal to locate a tiny home village on church grounds. Located in a west Modesto neighborhood […]

The Moral Dilemma of Homelessness

As more and more studies reveal that homelessness is a result of material factors unrelated to cultural issues like family values, it’s become increasingly evident that the majority of homeless people are victims of forces beyond their control. If this is truly the case, state and local management policies for homelessness need to be reevaluated. […]

How Homelessness has Enabled Cruelty

We’re no longer stunned or dismayed. We’ve become so habituated to California’s vast sprawl of homelessness that encampments along the freeways, bodies on the sidewalks. and human debris everywhere arouse no more concern than a speed bump or fire hydrant. The objectification of human beings in distress has become a norm for almost all of […]

What the Armchair Experts get Wrong about Homelessness

Rachel Sheffield’s widely published OP/ED piece on homelessness earlier this month offers a prime example of misunderstanding the problem. A research fellow for Heritage Foundation, Sheffield recycles the old “treatment first” tactic that has impeded efforts to manage homelessness for decades. Sheffield is correct when she argues that current versions of  “housing first” tactics have […]