• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Valley Citizen

Pursuing truth toward justice

The Valley Citizen

Pursuing truth toward justice
  • Arts
  • Education
  • Environment
  • History
  • Nature
  • Politics
  • Wit
  • About

Wheelchair-bound Amputee Back on the Streets of Modesto

November 29, 2019 By Eric Caine 1 Comment

Alan Davis, the homeless man who was taken to the Modesto Outdoor Emergency Shelter (MOES) in late September is back on the streets. Davis had spent a little over two months at MOES and seemed to be doing well when he was moved to the new shelter in the Salvation Army’s Berberian building on 9th and D Streets. Prior to arriving at MOES, Davis had spent many months haunting the streets and sidewalks of downtown Modesto, where he was well known to many local businesspeople and passers-by.

Davis was given a priority position at the new shelter because he’s disabled and confined to a wheelchair. But even cold and stormy weather didn’t discourage him from bolting for the streets almost as soon as he was inside.

Davis reportedly said, “These bathrooms aren’t for me,” when asked why he was leaving. It was an odd answer. Davis had been using Porta-Potties at MOES, and the new shelter has excellent handicap-accessible facilities.

Alan Davis at MOES
Alan Davis at MOES

For those experienced at working with homeless people, Davis’s sudden exit is no surprise. A great many people who’ve spent years on the streets panic when suddenly put indoors. In some cases, the cause might be an onslaught of claustrophobia. Many homeless people are also uncomfortable in close quarters with others.

Frank Ploof, the city’s homeless coordinator at MOES, worked closely with Davis over the last two months. Ploof was able to get Davis enough identification to get his disability payments reinstated and a payee assigned.

In what may have been a telling incident, Davis just recently refused Ploof’s offer to get a mental health evaluation. It was the only time he’d refused an appointment since he’d been at MOES.

Privacy rights and regulations make it almost impossible for anyone but law enforcement or qualified medical personnel to learn a homeless person’s medical history, but there are suggestions in his records that Davis may have at one time been diagnosed with a serious mental illness. If that’s the case, he’s yet another of the hundreds of mentally ill local homeless people who, “don’t want help.”

Alan Davis on the street
Alan Davis on the street

And that’s what Davis said he told Randy Limburg when he found Davis in his wheelchair near the Gallo Theater for the Arts in downtown Modesto last Wednesday. An outreach worker for Telecare, Limburg has years of experience dealing with the mentally ill, but he’s bound by the same regulations that tie the hands of social workers everywhere.

If a person rejects help, no matter how ill, no one can force that person to accept assistance. The exceptions are when a person poses an imminent danger to him- or herself, or to others.

Despite ample documentation for the frequent occurrence of anosognosia, a condition that leads the mentally ill to believe they’re perfectly well, current regulations require even seriously mentally ill people be left on the streets if they refuse help. It is this rule as much as anything else that leads so many people to believe homeless people “choose” homelessness.

Randy Limburg
Randy Limburg

Alan Davis did well at MOES, where he had a tent and a bed. He spent most of his time outside his tent in warm, donated clothing. He had access to Dean Joseph Dodd’s Cleansing Hope Shower Shuttle and clearly enjoyed his showers. People watched out for him and made sure he had adequate food and water. His one leg was routinely inspected, cleaned and wrapped; it had been infected when he first came to MOES.

Davis’s tent was taken down as soon as he was moved to the new shelter. With MOES closing down, Davis now has nowhere to go other than the shelter he’s already rejected. Many will say he’s chosen to be homeless. Others will wonder why we continue to treat homelessness with obsolete methods and inadequate services.

 

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

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Twainhart Hill says

    November 30, 2019 at 8:11 am

    Good article. One word I would edit is in the last sentence, and that is to use “mental illness” rather than “homelessness.”

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Note: Some comments may be held for moderation.

Primary Sidebar

Off The Wire

Biden restores roadless protection to the Tongass, North America's largest rainforest
Biden restores roadless protection to the Tongass, North America’s largest rainforest
The Tongass National Forest in Alaska, a focus of political battles over old-growth logging and road-building in forests for decades, has received new protection from the Biden administration.
theconversation.com
As California?s climate heats up, Valley fever spikes ? especially on Central Coast
As California’s climate heats up, Valley fever spikes, especially on Central Coast
Because the fungus that causes the disease spreads easily in hot, arid conditions, the number of cases will grow, UC Berkeley study says
www.mercurynews.com
Activists sue to block Newsom's homeless mental illness treatment program
Activists sue to block Newsom’s homeless mental illness treatment program
Gov. Gavin Newsom championed compelled mental health treatment for homeless Californians. Now, activists are trying to stop it before it gets off the ground.
sjvsun.com
The Rise of Spirit Warriors on the Christian Right
The Rise of Spirit Warriors on the Christian Right
How an extreme transformation in American religion poses an existential threat to our democracy
newrepublic.com
Gimme Shelter: Mayor Karen Bass on homelessness and the California housing crisis
Gimme Shelter: Mayor Karen Bass on homelessness and the California housing crisis
Liam Dillon and Ben Oreskes of the L.A. Times interview Mayor Karen Bass about homelessness and housing problems in California.
calmatters.org
A Water War Is Brewing Over the Dwindling Colorado River
A Water War Is Brewing Over the Dwindling Colorado River
This story first appeared at ProPublica. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative…
talkingpointsmemo.com
At Last, a Real Possibility to Avoid Catastrophic Climate Change
At Last, a Real Possibility to Avoid Catastrophic Climate Change
After decades of minimal action, Congress passed the largest and most comprehensive piece of climate legislation in U.S. history. Will we make the most of this opportunity?
www.audubon.org
ACLU sues Phoenix over homeless sweeps, citations
ACLU sues Phoenix over homeless sweeps, citations
The ACLU of Arizona has filed a lawsuit against the city of Phoenix over cleanup sweeps of homeless encampments.
www.azcentral.com
'Full-on crisis': Groundwater in California's Central Valley disappearing at alarming rate
‘Full-on crisis’: Groundwater in California’s Central Valley disappearing at alarming rate
Excessive groundwater pumping has long been depleting aquifers in California’s Central Valley. Now, scientists say the depletion is accelerating.
www.latimes.com
San Francisco?s homeless sweeps are unlawful ? and the city will pay for it
San Francisco’s homeless sweeps are unlawful and the city will pay for it
San Francisco’s campaign to remove homeless people from the streets clearly violates…
www.sfchronicle.com
A year after opening 600 rooms to L.A.'s unhoused, the Cecil Hotel is still mostly empty. Here's why
A year after opening 600 rooms to L.A.’s unhoused, the Cecil Hotel is still mostly empty. Here’s why
The Cecil Hotel was supposed to be an innovative new model for permanent supportive housing in L.A. Why is it struggling to fill rooms?
news.yahoo.com
Fentanyl on campus: One Bay Area school saved a student?s life. Another missed the signs of an overdose. Is your school ready?
Fentanyl on campus: One Bay Area school saved a student’s life. Another missed the signs of an overdose. Is your school ready?
Suddenly, Bay Area schools are playing a critical role in combating the alarming rise of fentanyl that is spilling onto high school campuses. But a Bay Area News Group survey found most may not be….
www.mercurynews.com

Find us on Facebook

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Footer

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Subscribe for Free

* indicates required

Search

• Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 The Valley Citizen

Dedicated to the memory of John Michael Flint. Contact us at thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Editor and publisher: Eric Caine

Website customization and maintenance by Susan Henley Design