Editor, Manteca Bulletin,
Nobody can argue the fact, Mr. T’s column was well written with an eye to fire up the reader. It eloquently invoked a picture in the mind of Mom, Dad, the American flag and apple pie with his numerous statements about the “mess of Manteca” and the fireworks finale of “it is time to take our town back!” Wow! I can see how this article would put a fire in the belly of its readers and encourage pumping fists in the air yelling, YES! I drove around town to locate the war zone our town had become. I found no destroyed streets and no cordoned off areas for us to take back. The problem I see in this is, nothing in the new Ordinances will have our homeless population exiting town. This is a free country where people cannot be run out of town on a rail, booted out or forced to leave. That would be a violation of a person’s civil rights.
Yes, there are meth addicts on the streets of Manteca and some are homeless. Addicts represent a portion (not the overwhelming majority) of our homeless. It brings a smile to my face to see articles and posts from people who never worked with poor and homeless make statements of fact on the make-up of that population, their motivation (or lack thereof) and the abundance of resources available. I worked with this population for years and would not presume to think I know these things, without putting “boots on the ground” to meet and get to know these people.
I made note of a few things from the article:
What of Compassion ...What of God?
Neither of the scriptures cited actually supports the pro-ordinance side of our homeless issue, as stated in the article.
Proverbs 21:25 talks about the death of the Sluggard due to his craving, because his hands refuse to work. Meth addicts may have no desire to work, but there are many non-addicted homeless who would like nothing better than to clean themselves up, apply for employment and go back to work. I know this from years of working with homeless and successful outcomes I’ve witnessed or to which I have been involved.
Also cited Acts 3:5-6, talks about a lame man, since birth, who begged alms at the Temple Gate daily. This beggar asked Peter for alms, but he had no gold or silver. Peter gave this man what he had...healing of his lameness, giving him the ability to rise up and walk. Peter met this man’s true need.
Though not cited, Proverbs 21 (21:13), states, “Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered.” I could argue that God (or whoever your compassionate deity may be) expects his believers to assist those in need. I could cite pages of scripture that speaks to God’s command that Christian’s help to provide for the poor, but that isn’t the issue. The issue is how do we, as a community, address this problem? Homeless will not leave town because of the new pressures being put on them. Whether you like it or not, Manteca is their home, as much as it is yours or mine. Our town needs to proactively look at other ways to address these issues.
• • •
Why don’t we just put them in a building not being used?
Quoting President Grover Cleveland may have been good for effect, but it doesn’t apply to current day homeless issues. This statement was made in the late 1800s, when the world was a much different place. Today, government buildings are built for the care and protection of citizens, and others not designed for that purpose are used for temporary housing during times of emergency.
• • •
Town Thoughts
Some homeless residents are involved in illegal activities that show a lack of consideration, respect, or caring about other citizens, property owners and our legal system. The activities they are involved in are crimes and should be treated as such. Our city didn’t pass a new Ordinance to address stealing, damaging property, drug use or sales, etc. It’s already in law. Why, instead of addressing the crimes that are being committed, did our City pass new Ordinances that adversely affect homeless who were not committing crimes, too?
Offenders of the new Ordinances will receive citations. They will not be jailed. They will be fined, but probably won’t pay the fines. The City can then assign them to community service work hours to pay the fine. Hopefully, they will be assigned to do urination/defecation clean-up.
I informed the Mayor and every City Council member in an e-mail on Sept. 25 of my concerns about a homeless encampment next to the alternative high school on North Main Street. I saw this as being a disaster waiting to happen. Obviously, I have no problem with the encampment Ordinance.
The Police Chief says the homeless are allowed to use the Library restrooms. None of the homeless I spoke to had been told this. Some even told me they had previously been told to leave the library when they attempted to use that restroom. They also say most businesses refuse them access to their restrooms.
There is no shelter for homeless single adult males and females without children, unless a person is in a recovery program for substance abuse. So, shouldn’t they be allowed to sleep behind dumpsters, in bushes, in open fields, in an alcove outside a building, etc., as long as they don’t set up an encampment and vacate the area each morning? There is all ready a City law that makes this illegal. So, where are homeless people to sleep at night?
The homeless will tell you they often do not have time to pick up the garbage they have gone through looking for food and recyclables and replace it. They are run off by barking dogs, cars passing by, outside lights being turned on, other people out walking, etc. I have no problem with this Ordinance because no resident should have to clean-up after their receptacles having been rifled through. I will, however, no longer place recyclable items in my home dumpster. I will bag them up and give them to a homeless person, before I place my dumpsters on the street for my garbage to become the City’s property.
The homeless do not form a “community”. When you are out on the streets, it is every person for him/herself. Friendships are formed with other like-minded people, but druggies hang together and are not a part of the friendships formed with others who do not do drugs. It’s difficult to maintain a level of self-respect on the streets. Homeless persons have told me many times, they have done things they would never have thought they were capable of doing, in order to survive. That does not mean they do not want to, or are unable to, turn their lives around, if there was help available to assist them in doing so. Some need a hand up! Some won’t change, no matter what services are made available to them.
To those people who say, “There’s a number of outreach programs available, they choose not to use them”, “there are resources to help the homeless deal with everything from medical issues, drugs, housing, legal issues, even getting a replacement I.D.”, etc., I challenge anyone who believes this to locate all these services available to homeless single males/females between the ages of 21 through 64, without children and without income. To help in that search, look at the County Resources Guide provided by SJ County Human Services Agency (welfare department) at http://communityconnectionssjc.org/. Remember, people in this group are not Medi-Cal eligible. You will find no medical, drug, shelter/housing, legal issues (other than advocacy for civil rights and administrative violations), or replacement I.D. services listed in this resource guide within Manteca. You will also find no transportation assistance. You will find, under Second Harvest Food Bank, that people needing food can receive a referral to one of 12 Food Pantries in Manteca, each operated by local churches on different days throughout the month. Food is also distributed at the Manteca Library one day a month through the S.J. County Commodity Program. If there were services available, Manteca and other local cities, the homeless problems cities have today would not exist..
The method our town has chosen to employ does nothing to actually fix the homeless problem and will not rid us of our homeless population. This method just installs a revolving door for repeat offenses and wastes City staff time and money!
Only time will tell how this plays out.
Sharon Herrera
Manteca
