The national spotlight hit Fresno again this morning, with a front-page story in the New York Times about the growing problem of homeless people on Fresno's streets. Complete with photos.
Times reporter Jesse McKinley visited homeless encampments in downtown Fresno. He spoke with residents of "New Jack City" and "Taco Flats," two of the encampments, and with people trying to care for them.
He noted a disturbing development:
"The problem in Fresno is different in that it is both chronic and largely outside the national limelight. Homelessness here has long been fed by the ups and downs in seasonal and subsistence jobs in agriculture, but now the recession has cast a wider net and drawn in hundreds of the newly homeless -- from hitchhikers to truck drivers to electricians."
The city rolled out a new 10-year plan to address homelessness earlier this year. Just in time, maybe, although the continuing recession and Fresno's chronic economic malaise make me wonder if it's too little, too late.
People still read the NY Times??? Huh....
I noticed more people on the busy street corners panhandling for money.
I see fathers with kids along side them, this is very, very, disturbing.
My dears, they do indeed read the New York Times. MOI get up early and folks who are 'au fait' with this old geezer were emailing MOI the link to the story before the sun came up here.
MOI did filmed bits on YOUTUBE about this horrid condition some time back and one and all can go there to see; http://www.youtube.com/rdefrees, that be my channel on YOUTUBE. It is a stain on the soul of Fresno that these horrid Hoovervilles are here.
So long as there are places like this, Fresno will continue to get 'bad press' and never be considered a "World Class City", more's the pity that 'Silly Hall' does not see that. Too busy chasing a 'pipe dream' that be 'Fulton Mall'....take some of the cash and put it where it may do the most good.
The homelessness in Fresno is horrible and I sure it will get worse with these economic times. I agree the city has to do more to help them. Take some of that downtown money to purchase some hotels to give them a place. They make a good chunk of change panhandling vso they can pay a little something and once they have an address they can apply for aid be it welfare or veterans benefits or SS. There will be some that are happy with the tent city lifestyle but at least those that want to make a better life will have a chance.
Let us say that Mama; Papa and kiddies had become homeless through no fault of theirs but loss of employment. 10 years would be a long to wait for relieve, for a roof over the head, a bed to sleep in. I have been in this area nearly six decades, and I had found that overall the haves have consistently been very cavalier about the have not. One just called them lazy bums, and one was relieved of being your brother's keeper. And having been around, I know that farming people are the same everywhere. I am a big city person, and I know that social welfare was extensive. Ask our governor from the same country's hicksville, and you shall see that he fits in well with the local ever so righteous Scrooges.
There was a time when the majority of homeless people were productive human beings that fell to bad times due to unusual circumstances. There are still those but also a large number of career homeless have swelled the ranks. There is also a segment of homeless that used to be institutionalized but were left to fend for themselves, when the government (We the People) decided not to finance their care any longer. Help people? Yes, we must. We first need to determine who needs temporary help and who needs long term psychiatric care. Freeloaders need the "shape up or there are consequences talk"; a little tough love. Then we need to determine what other special programs we will give up that is not as important as the the humanity of the homeless. This is the critical part. We need to give something else up. The fact that we never take the second step is why we are in the budget predicament we are in. We can't be everything to everybody. Helping the homeless is worth it, within reason. Let's make a trade off in favor of them. To do it any other way is doomed to failure. Taxpayers are too overburdened, the well is dry. What we will have to give up is likely important too but we have to determine which is more important and we have to be willing to make those hard decisions and take the heat; both our government and the taxpayers.
Homelessness makes an indelible mark on children. Their families should be the first ones in line.
Let us fight a major cause of the problem, unemployment. The jobs must come back to the USA.
Otherwise we can talk ourselves blue in the face and it won't help the poverty stricken an iota. Nor will our tears make a roof over a child's head. All those who want to work should have the opportunity. No more grapes of wrath! Fresno is large enogh a municipality to provide municipal housing. And if that is anti American, anti capitalistic then so be it. Why not try to be human for a change. Am I angry! Yes! And may God forgive those who are not.
I concur that we have to help the ones that have fallen on hard times due to job loss or unforseen medical problems not the ones who are abusers of drugs and alcohol or those that don't want to help themselves.
Long ago before I was diagnosed and accepted that I needed to be on disability I was mentally ill and homeless. The only reason I am not still homeless is because my family took the time to help me.
Kim is right mental health care sucks. It is too easy to fall through the cracks especially if you can be lucid for a few hours. Many mentally ill folks can be.
I do not understand why the budgets continue to be cut for mental health...If we called it brain disease would that get more funding? We can spend millions of dollars on a heart center, how bout half that amount on mental health?
I know its not a sexy disease and you do not outright die from it. the mentally ill deserve the same care we would give anyone with any type of brain disease...thats exactly what it is.
Anyway if you see a homeless guy or gal keep in mind its not about blame, its about being human. Buy em something to eat, give em some bus tokens, shake there hand and say hi.
John..."Dittos" on your closing thoughts and "Best Wishes" for yourself.
The title of this piece sould be: "The Homeless"
The first line should read: Once again the homeless have become the unbenefited actors on the national stage of the liberal lip serving agenda, this time in Fresno, California.
Bart, get off it.
Why must you think it's a partisan issue?
Rich would you please tell me how many of the homeless are sleeping at your place tonight?
Your comments do nothing to help this issue, especially cheap partisan shots.
The following appeared today on the Bee’s web site:
"Man asks for $1, steals $30 from Clovis woman"
"Clovis police are looking for a man who punched a 57-year-old Clovis woman and stole $30 from her while she was walking home Thursday. Police said the woman, who was not identified, was walking in the 900 block of Villa Avenue shortly after 4 p.m. when she was approached by a man who asked her for a dollar. When the woman opened her purse to get a dollar to give to the man, he punched her in the ribs and grabbed $30 from her purse."
Thursday, Mar. 26, 2009
By Paula Lloyd / The Fresno Bee
In all probability this was a homeless individual. This is a known "trick" (crime) that many panhandlers pull.
A word of advice to those of you that are so disposed to giving cash to a panhandler: Be careful and discerning and be aware of your situation.
Know this - that monies handed out to a panhandler on the street corner will probably go to feed a drug or alcohol habit. But not always - and that’s why we need to be discerning - there are CERTAINLY legitimate needs out there!
I’m not saying - don’t give, just give with discernment! Something that works for me: Keeping a pocket full or quarters and a few bills in my shirt pocket. Never, never, pull out your wallet or open your purse; You are only asking for trouble! Personally, I will frequently give to a homeless woman & child or homeless family, and almost never give to a single male, especially if I have a suspicion of drugs or alcohol.
There are many local churches and charitable organizations that work with the homeless & are deserving of our support.
While I’m at it, the public needs to know that the "homeless" are not all alike. They fall into many different categories. Some of those categories are:
1. The circumstantially homeless - including those with no safety net, no family, who are unemployed, divorced, abused, in poverty, lack education, have health issues & medical bills;
2. Senior / child (youth) homelessness - possibly a sub category of the above.
3. The severely mentally ill who cannot function in society (probably the result of deinstitutionalization);
4. The drop-outs from society, non-materialists, non-conformists, societal rebels, (a life-style choice);
5. Those homeless because of bondage to alcohol or drugs - (a life-style choice);
6. Those homeless because of other criminal acts, including, sex offender (a life-style choice); Sex offenders, those on probation, long-term, hard-core, criminal offenders, understandably, have a hard time finding employment (or a place to live) and frequently end up homeless.
7. Any combination of the above.
The issue is not partisan at all, how the issue is manipulated is very much so.
When a child asks a question about the human condition it is usually done so out of innocence. When I read you, Mr. Minick, MOI, or Barney Frank ask, I hear the voice of Mayor Newsom inside me screaming "Whether you like it or not..." because I know whether or not it is homelessness, high speed rail or tax increases you have already constructed the answer to your own question.
The last response to homelessness liberals provided through the distortion of home credit qualification is why so many are out of work now in the first place. To ignore this fact is to allow you do decide what is and what should not be partisan. I will never ever let you do that. Am I clear?
TC I am impressed.
Thanks for sharing.
Why must you rubbish everyone? To my mind, you are the one who already has mind made up, more's the pity.
I am not trying to bait you Bart but I truly don’t understand. The point of the article that I got was that the homeless population, which has always existed, has changed due to the recession. I also think that Minnick’s question, “is it too little too late?” is the wrong question. The question should ask if the 10- year plan is sufficient to handle the changes in the make up of the homeless population? The change after all, was not anticipated when the 10-year plan was being created. Bart, whom I knew years and years ago, is very sensitive to the needs of the homeless and has done well in giving them the respect they deserve and helping those he could. He was raised well. Bart is correct in that solutions for the homeless have been inept and poorly thought out at best. I understand his frustration. You can’t paint the Mona Lisa using white wash and you can’t solve the homeless problem by hiding them from view; which is really what most previous government “solutions” have done. How is this partisan though? Both parties have not addressed the homeless problem with any appropriate solutions for years and years. How is the article liberal lip service? The home credit issue is just the latest failure and is hardly the only reason this country has a new category of homeless folks. What point am I missing?
I have known Paula Lloyd since her early days at The Clovis Independent. She is a no-nonsense journalist. And I do not hesitate to heed her warnings about those bad people among the homeless. But I look at the homeless issue from the angle that an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. We must concentrate on the poverty that had been imposed upon productive members of the community instead of handing out lollypops. Crying ach and alas about it is not going to restore the productivity and self-respect of the people the system has condemned to poverty, to being homeless. The solution is jobs! jobs! jobs! and jobs! We have become a cannibalistic system. Because there are so many more of us who are not homeless, we have taken to not giving a damn about the "involuntary" homeless, just as we have stopped demanding the end of the wars because not hundreds of thousand of soldiers are being killed as in former wars. And quoting the Bible at a drop of a handkerchief by some well housed, well fed members of the community is not going to provide a roof over a homeless child's head, or give the food that is needed for maintaining healthy life and limb. Yes, my home has given shelter to homeless. People who were made homeless by aerial bombardment. Yes I have been hungry because there was a famine. I know it all first hand. And the next one might be you. I believe in the old proverb that God's mills grind slowly but surely.
I will personally buy anyone a meal but do not give them cash that way they eat and I am helping them but not supporting an addiction. A smile to a stranger can go along way.
Reagan's administration decided that it wasn't the governments job to take care of the mentally ill-destitute,...the mental hospitals were emtied and the streets filled up with homeless people, remember TC? it was in all the papers and TV, and then it kinda went away, as a story, but it's gotten steadily worse, albeit, largely unreported. Now that it's hit the formerly-middle-class, it's a story again, a very sad story, you might say, a cautionary tale.
(there but for the grace of God...)
You are right jobs DO cure homeless issues. Sadly many people that are homeless are very far from the point where they can walk into a job interview.
the most basic things you need to get a job are a place to sleep and shower and transportation. So either a bike, bus tokens or good shoes. Not to mention a phone with voice mail really really helps. With those things you can pretty much get any job you are qualified for.
Many homeless folks would thrive under those conditions and make a life for themselves. But a large percentage either can not function like that or will not. We can only help those that actually want to do something about there own situation. Ask any social worker that frequents the Poverello house. I am sure there is a workable solution to being homeless for many folks. Making it available for them should be a no brainer. Not to mention providing mental health care or drug and alcohol prevention to others.
This stuff is not a hand out. It is a hand up. Everyone here has needed help from someone at some point in there lives, imagine if you fell and no one was there to help.
Some ism; tenet; principle, axiom and/or doctrine is timeless and without geographical demarcation. There was a man called Julius Tandler who was in his country (what would be here) Secretary of Health and Welfare. He instituted his office with (in translation)
"Every member of human society has a right to help when needed. And we, human society are obligated to render the help."
john zacharias; these your words: "...not a not a hand out. It is a hand up. Everyone here has needed help from someone at some point in there lives,..." definitely conform to the criteria at the beginning of this post. You are in the USA 2009, Tandler was in Austria 1918. And of course the most important teacher and practitioner thereof; the young carpenter of Nazareth. When ? around 1 anno Domini ?
So nice to have read your message.
If you gave a million homeless people ten thousand bucks each, that's only 10 billion.
I'm pretty sure they won't stash it in the Cayman Islands...it would be an immediate cash infusion into local economies across the country, do it every week-do it until the problem is fixed,...
...or we can just give it to the financial institutions that recently went bankrupt, on the promise of a soothing trickle-down at some unknown point in the future...or we could burn it up in Mesopotamia every week...
This nation made a decision, a statement of priorities, when it went to war 6 years ago, and we must be always be mindfull of that decision, and include the cost of it in every discussion about homelessness, the economy, and Obama, who has dramatically escalated it.
Oh-Oh...and weekly on TV they should be showing the people jumping out of the twin towers and the plane crashng in the PA field, and the Pentagon on fire...just to be fair.
Turnipseed and john zacharias; I would not let an (off the street) stranger, a homeless mentally disabled/brain diseased (or what ever you may fain to call it) sleep in the same house than I am sleeping in. Not being a psychiatrist, I would not know if it were safe. I would actively support any ordinance, legislation that would undo Governor Ronald Reagan's draconian measures that forced many needy people onto the street. I would financially help in the pursuit of shelter.
But the reality is that there are no such measure in the making, meaning that most Fresnans are in consensus with the Reagan policy.
And I totally disagree with the zacharias contention that taking a shower and having a voice mail phone can get you a job. If that were so, there would not be so many unemployed people who were laid off from thousands of jobs that were eliminated, and therefore lost their homes. Oversimplifying on an opinion blog is one thing; but it's another thing to realistically turn the current trend around. And during the Great Depression, all those people who were given government initiated work, nobody asked if they had a shower. War bombing left many of us (Euros) without baths or showers because of the extensive damage to the infra structure. We carried in water from a couple of miles away; took sponge baths in very little water, and went to work, and waited for the bombs to come back. Perhaps, having had to go through all the hardships was God's way to keep me from becoming an unrealistic, expecting to be pampered American....hahaha! And I shall debate this no further. I need my time to figure out how to help homeless kids with more than words.
Agreed.
Ya its simple did you want me to draw up pie charts and go over statistics with you?
It is an opinion blog it is meant to be easy to digest
bored and want to read up on it?
http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/162/2/370
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/23/eveningnews/main3534623.shtml
Theres plenty more info if you care to look and educate yourself. Please dont sit there and say " well when I was in this situation this is how I did it." They are not you its a different situation. Look at it through there eyes.
"john zacharias" introduced himself (to the beehive) as being "mentally ill and homeless. (March 26; 8.38 PM.) Therefore, I hesitate to respond to his rude and somewhat incoherent challenge (to whom is unclear) March 28; 7.14 PM.
The recommended two links were interesting reading. But they did not solve the dilemma of how to see through the eyes of the mentally ill who, by the nature of their illness, are often of a different mindset. We concur, the beehive blog is an opinion medium which gives a free pass to everybody's opinion. Now do we, do I have to draw up "pie charts" in order to garner permission to state our opinions which, "john zacharias", might not be in sync with yours? The question is rhetorical.
PAX VOBISCUM!
To forestall further misunderstandings, this short comment is to convey to the beehive that my comments address that segment of the homeless who had become victims of the ruinous failure of our economy. I will debate politics, corporate greed and inefficiency and it's effect upon We the People. I won't discuss "mental illness." Not with the mentally ill, nor with anyone else. That is for psychiatry; not the social-critic.
Looking in on a bad situation in Fresno. The problem is the same in most parts of the country. Im fortunate to live in Western Massachusetts where more care is given to the needy. Untill the middle class is able to keep from sliding into poverty the problem is going to get worse.The depletion of staples from food banks is becoming a burden. Im so happy for the aide and cooperation thar eases this crisis here.
Snowstorms here have helped a few make a few bucks here shoveling for dollars.... There is a silver lining to everything.
Everyone get out there and help those poor souls... Yep im a conservative republican but that does not matter today...