Only by Believing Your Own Eyes
If you had been with me this morning, you would have been as moved as I was. The smell that filled the air, was that of human feces. Piles of garbage rotting and worthless cast-off items that someone for some reason stole and brought to the “camp.” I’m referring to the homeless encampment under the Hwy 99 bridge spanning the Mokelumne River. At 60 miles per hour it takes maybe 10 seconds to cross the river’s bridge, maybe the length of 1-1/2 Football fields. But under the bridge on the north and south side of the river 70+ people have lived in abject squaller and filth.
I cannot imagine people wanting to live in the conditions they have made for themselves. I saw a 10x10 pop-up, with odd-sized pieces of plywood for walls with a filthy broken-down sofa, and a fireplace! The underside of the concrete of the highway was blackened by the smoke from many wood fires. The “room” next door had two propane tanks linked to a make-shift cooking device. One Sherriff said they could blow a hole in the freeway and injure everyone underneath it. The river banks showed signs of being the camp inhabitants’ toilet. Yes, the same river loaded with kayakers and swimming children at the beach. The San Joaquin Sherriff’s Department performed the clean-up. The officers really care, they said to me, those that were at the camp refused the help of the county. Let me explain. For any clean-up like this, the area to be cleaned must be posted 72 hours prior to the clean-up. This gives the people time to pack their belongings and leave the area the morning of the clean-up. The Sheriffs personnel inform the people at that time if they need help in getting to a safe place, or getting out of their addiction they can get them help. Three square meals a day and all the help they need, to get clean and gain a fresh start. The Sheriff’s Department even helps them to learn employable skills to reenter the workforce.
Out of the 70+ individuals living under the bridge, not one took the Sheriff’s offer to help get to a better place in life. Another way to say it… they CHOOSE to live in squaller. At every clean-up site, they find 7 to 10 people with warrants for arrest. The piles of junk and garbage included a dozen broken, unrideable bikes, a huge outboard motor from a boat, shopping carts, 5’ x 8’ sheets of plywood, broken furniture, ice coolers, storage tubs, anything you can imagine. Where did most of the “stuff come from?” Sheriff and Police tell me it comes from Lodi businesses and residences.
The Sheriff keeps the areas they clean free from new or returning campers as much as possible. Some locations are harder to manage. Caltrans has put-up chain-link fences under the bridge, but they were easily cut to form an entry gate. Some steel fences were installed, but campers easily found a way around them.
What must we do? Demonstrated compassion is rebuffed too often. But many who are homeless want off the street, or out of their car. Yes, many people today are living in their cars, working a job, taking their kids to school. Some have lost jobs or a home or a break-up putting them in dire straits.
Some need mental help and their families have in effect disowned them. Many...too many choose to live in squaller or on the streets, stealing what they can to get by. I heard it said by several homeless individuals I’ve talked to outside our Chamber door, that when they became homeless, they did not do drugs. But this individual now a meth addict says, “You cannot live on the streets or in a camp for a year and not become an addict.”
I agree with Sheriff Withrow when he said, “I believe that it is in some way immoral to allow a fellow human being live like this, in this manner. They are choosing to live in this manner, drug-addicted, committing crimes in deplorable conditions.” The people who are refusing to get help are endangering their lives and the lives of citizens downstream. There is such a thing as tough love. It is to help those you love and want the best for them. You’ll help them fix what’s wrong and work at taking better care of themselves and kick the destructive behavior. But we need to refrain from being a crutch or making it easier to live destructive lifestyles. In our community, if they refuse help, do we just give them a pass? If they refuse help, can we keep moving them, making it uncomfortable for them to live in our County? Is that cruel or is it getting them to think about changing their lifestyle?
I ask anyone who has not seen this video to watch on YouTube the News Documentary titled “Is Seattle Dying?” Watch it, then ask yourself is California Dying?
Something is very wrong in our state.
I cannot imagine people wanting to live in the conditions they have made for themselves. I saw a 10x10 pop-up, with odd-sized pieces of plywood for walls with a filthy broken-down sofa, and a fireplace! The underside of the concrete of the highway was blackened by the smoke from many wood fires. The “room” next door had two propane tanks linked to a make-shift cooking device. One Sherriff said they could blow a hole in the freeway and injure everyone underneath it. The river banks showed signs of being the camp inhabitants’ toilet. Yes, the same river loaded with kayakers and swimming children at the beach. The San Joaquin Sherriff’s Department performed the clean-up. The officers really care, they said to me, those that were at the camp refused the help of the county. Let me explain. For any clean-up like this, the area to be cleaned must be posted 72 hours prior to the clean-up. This gives the people time to pack their belongings and leave the area the morning of the clean-up. The Sheriffs personnel inform the people at that time if they need help in getting to a safe place, or getting out of their addiction they can get them help. Three square meals a day and all the help they need, to get clean and gain a fresh start. The Sheriff’s Department even helps them to learn employable skills to reenter the workforce.
Out of the 70+ individuals living under the bridge, not one took the Sheriff’s offer to help get to a better place in life. Another way to say it… they CHOOSE to live in squaller. At every clean-up site, they find 7 to 10 people with warrants for arrest. The piles of junk and garbage included a dozen broken, unrideable bikes, a huge outboard motor from a boat, shopping carts, 5’ x 8’ sheets of plywood, broken furniture, ice coolers, storage tubs, anything you can imagine. Where did most of the “stuff come from?” Sheriff and Police tell me it comes from Lodi businesses and residences.
The Sheriff keeps the areas they clean free from new or returning campers as much as possible. Some locations are harder to manage. Caltrans has put-up chain-link fences under the bridge, but they were easily cut to form an entry gate. Some steel fences were installed, but campers easily found a way around them.
What must we do? Demonstrated compassion is rebuffed too often. But many who are homeless want off the street, or out of their car. Yes, many people today are living in their cars, working a job, taking their kids to school. Some have lost jobs or a home or a break-up putting them in dire straits.
Some need mental help and their families have in effect disowned them. Many...too many choose to live in squaller or on the streets, stealing what they can to get by. I heard it said by several homeless individuals I’ve talked to outside our Chamber door, that when they became homeless, they did not do drugs. But this individual now a meth addict says, “You cannot live on the streets or in a camp for a year and not become an addict.”
I agree with Sheriff Withrow when he said, “I believe that it is in some way immoral to allow a fellow human being live like this, in this manner. They are choosing to live in this manner, drug-addicted, committing crimes in deplorable conditions.” The people who are refusing to get help are endangering their lives and the lives of citizens downstream. There is such a thing as tough love. It is to help those you love and want the best for them. You’ll help them fix what’s wrong and work at taking better care of themselves and kick the destructive behavior. But we need to refrain from being a crutch or making it easier to live destructive lifestyles. In our community, if they refuse help, do we just give them a pass? If they refuse help, can we keep moving them, making it uncomfortable for them to live in our County? Is that cruel or is it getting them to think about changing their lifestyle?
I ask anyone who has not seen this video to watch on YouTube the News Documentary titled “Is Seattle Dying?” Watch it, then ask yourself is California Dying?
Something is very wrong in our state.
