For years, the dominant explanations for homelessness have been drugs and choice. Whenever the topic of homelessness arose, people were quick to say, “It’s the drugs.” And if they didn’t rant about drugs and needles, the alternative was to argue that homelessness was a “choice” people made to avoid the responsibilities of self-sufficiency. Occasionally, someone would point out that doing away with mental institutions and social services might have had […]
Homelessness in the San Joaquin Valley
Endangered Homeless Woman Safe, United with Daughter
Cheryl Littlefield’s daughter, who prefers to remain anonymous, was stunned when she found her mother on the street last Thursday. “The last time I saw her was in November,” said the daughter. “She still had her room then. It was packed full of her belongings and a lot of trash, but her rooms have been that way for years.” According to her daughter, Cheryl has a history of mental illness […]
Homeless: Falling into the Black Hole of Help
We first saw Cheryl Littlefield on south 9th Street in Modesto in late January. She was badly soiled and had obviously been sleeping outside for several weeks. Her fingernails and toenails were grotesquely long and dirty. Prior to living on the street, Cheryl had had a room at a nearby motel. She said she lost the room when it, “caved in.” Her income is managed by a local payee. Payees […]
Homeless: The Journey Home
Look at Charles and Deanna Farish today and it’s hard to imagine them homeless. Both are 51 years old. Their eyes sparkle and their faces radiate happiness — but it was only three years ago that they both saw no way out of the park they were living in. Charles and Deanna met in Mellis Park, in Modesto. Both were homeless and single. Except when rousted by the police, they […]
Homeless: The Enduring Madness of Sweeps
Consider the case of a 74 year old woman who stood, sat, and slept in plain sight on the concrete along a busy street just outside Modesto’s city limits for over six weeks, her pants soiled with her own waste, her fingernails and toenails grotesquely untended, and the space around her littered with trash and garbage. Consider also that she is almost certainly developmentally disabled, has an authorized payee, and […]
RIP Edward “White Horse” Mendez
With a profile that could easily have served as the “heads” side of an American coin honoring its native residents, Edward “White Horse” Mendez was a legendary presence among the small circle of homeless people who lived in and frequented Modesto’s Beard Brook Park. He died Wednesday, March 10. He was sixty-eight years old. “White Horse taught me how to survive out here,” said one man several decades his junior. […]
Homeless: The Band-Aid Fallacy
Not long after the public launch of Stanislaus County’s “Focus on Prevention” program in October of 2015, Joseph Dean Dodd knew he had to do something positive for homeless people and do it soon. Dodd’s own experience as a homeless person and his position as President and Pastor of Church in the Park give him an on-the-ground perspective about poverty and homelessness that most people lack, even the best intentioned. […]
Homeless: The Harsh Realities of Help
“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, […]
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 […]