By Motecuzoma P. Sanchez
Two weeks ago I visited the street I lived on when I was born in south Stockton. What was supposed to be just a quick photo shoot turned into an impromptu tour of the entrance to a a homeless transient encampment in the middle of the neighborhood when a homeless man approached my crew and I to apologize for the trash. He showed me around when I asked him what could be done to alleviate the unbearable living conditions. As we walked amidst tents and parked RV’s we had to endure not only the conditions, sights, and smell, but also burning trash, the smoke of which travels to the adjacent residential homes. He showed me a running fire hydrant they use to wash their clothes in the gutter. He told me regular trash service pick ups and portable rest rooms would help greatly as they are forced to relive themselves there in the open field.
I listened to his suggestions and told him I’d return with food and clothes to help them stay warm through the winter. The next week, last weekend, I returned with those items. Not finding him, I decided to still take advantage of the trip and give those items to those in need. This time I took a guide as it turns out the people that live in those areas are very protective of their space and very distrustful of outsiders for various reasons. Having a guide that knew the secret knock so to speak provided my team and I the uncommon opportunity to travel deep inside the trenches away from the public streets. This was only possible as our guide was recognized to them as someone who used to provide them with contraband we should say. Reformed now, he regularly goes there to donate items to them they need. Without him it would not have been safe to be there at all.
It’s one thing to see pictures or drive by a few tents on a public sidewalk, but the trenches near downtown Stockton are a whole other world. There are several structures, improvised houses, tents and RV’s. Someone of these are decorated with fences and yard decorations, like you’d see in any normal neighborhood. This reinforced m to me their humanity and how the human spirit will shine through despite some of the most unbearable conditions. There are none of the amenities we take for granted like running water or restrooms. No heaters or stoves. Open fires that often get out of control take the place of those. There are people out there with newer cars as well as cars being dismantled in the open.
I spoke to many people as I passed out items. Sweatpants to help keep warm was the number one request. Off to the distance a police patrol cruiser could be seen in the distance and in speaking to officers before even police stay away from these areas unless the have to go there. The size of the encampments, which can even be seen from space satélites have only increased as the homeless population has exploded in Stockton 200% since 2017. This growth has been for various reasons including rent prices also going up 25% on average during the same time. But the hard reality is that many of these people living in these conditions choose to do so for various reasons including drug addiction and criminal records such as sexual assault and abuse. There exists among our city a hidden society that has its own rules and turf boundaries. $50 million to the inept “homeless task force” or $130,000 a year “homeless czar” has done nothing measurable to alleviate the crisis. The situation is way worse than people realize.
It is a public safety and health crisis as well as environmental. Test results show levels of E Coli and other germs have polluted our water ways that are then processed through plants to be our drinking water. Freeways are being burrowed into and sculpted with steps to be easier to climb. Freeways and empty buildings are catching fire regularly from the fires used to keep warm and cook as well as arson. Action is required now. Enough studies and summits have taken place. It is the duty of our leaders to now take action or remain derelict in those duties.
By far I would estimate the number one contributor to the homeless population is drug and alcohol addiction, which our guide would only confirm. Next would be mental health and the combination of the two. Those are complex problems that won’t be somber immediately, but there are things that can be done.
What I would suggest based on research and first hand conversations with the homeless population:
- Regular trash service
- portable showers and water stations
- porta potties
- designated areas and or empty structures that can be maintained with security and services
- regular outreach by law enforcement (to make sure the children are safe) and social services
- transitional housing, like tiny homes or even Quonset huts for those it will help. If it was good enough for me in the military it’ll be better then a open filed or trench.
- increased budgets to mental health and addiction counseling services from the state and federal government.
What is for certain is that the status quo cannot continue. It is not only unbearable for those enduring the reality, but a threat for everyone else should diseases break out, not to mention the burning freeways and polluted waterways. And children. There are children living in these encampments, sometimes being found unattended!
Action is required now.
Comments 6
Please don’t exaggerate the size of these camps. I know they are larger than they should be, but we as a city need to be working on things like affordable housing and lowering the cost of living and the gentrification of this city by Bay area residents who were priced out of their homes and neighborhoods. Contrary to popular belief, not even the Great Wall of China can be seen from space so please don’t expect me to believe that you can see these camps from space satalites- Google maps is not the same thing.
Like I said though, this city needs to start working on affordable housing instead of retail shops or self storage businesses. Homelessness is beyond out of control and wages in this city are stagnant. We need real change and real change requires real ideas.
It is what it is! I’m 1 of them. I have no address just the street and license plate my car is parked on. I’m not in trenches as they are. But we all deal with our problems. Security kicking me out of parking lots, police occasionally checking, I’m still working so I don’t panhandle, I keep to myself, homeless shelter is full there’s no place to sleep, sleep 2 hrs a night forced to move on. I’m recovering from a divorce where I actually lost so I got the worse part of the deal. It’s actually expensive to live the street. Food can’t be kept without refrigeration gas is spent driving around looking for places where people don’t mind you being there and leave you alone. I was forced into my situation it’s harder to get out of it because you spend everyday. Offer me a solution. Temporary housing suggestions would help a lot.
I do agree with what you say on the other hand I also hold the homeless responsible for keeping their part and keeping it clean if they would clean up their surroundings now and not leave the trash that they do we might be a little bit more caring but as far as it goes I just filled up stretches with trash so that we should care for them if they care for themselves and the ones that do alright the ones that don’t hey let me go spend a couple days in jail it might help make it like a 5-day jail sentence for filthy camp but on the other hand I suggest we supply the dumpsters before the showers see what they do
I do agree with what you say on the other hand I also hold the homeless responsible for keeping their part and keeping it clean if they would clean up their surroundings now and not leave the trash that they do we might be a little bit more caring but as far as it goes I just filled up stretches with trash so that we should care for them if they care for themselves and the ones that do alright the ones that don’t hey let me go spend a couple days in jail it might help make it like a 5-day jail sentence for filthy camp but on the other hand I suggest we supply the dumpsters before the showers see what they do
I love the article but the writing has so many grammatical errors it was a bit distracting. I would love to help edit these types of things for you!!! I completely agree with you on what needs to happen and they should take the mayor’s paycheck to cover some of it and recoup some of what we’ve wasted to pay for him to not only do nothing but to make it 200% worse!!! That’s a ridiculous rate!!!
Give me a break, we have been throwing millions a year, at least, for the last decade at this, nothing changes. I know because my spouse is LE- they clean them out, want to send them to a shelter or rehab, and they all refuse. They like living without responsibility, doing what they want, and they don’t give a damn how big a mess they make in Lodi. They steal anything not nailed down and every night crawl all over the neighborhoods, trespassing as our cameras catch them on our front porch, back yard, cars. It is disgusting, they have zero respect for the law. If they want trash service and port a potty…GET A DAMN JOB, and pay for it! As long as you give them free needles and money, this problem will continue. How do they get the money for drugs, perhaps they could use that resourcefulness to become gainfully employed. No one likes to have to do things, to be told what to do, but that is life. I would like to live free with no obligations- waiting for others who do work to take care of me, who wouldn’t? But that attitude is selfish, if it impacts others, then it’s a problem. The housing issue us BS..there are rentals in all price ranges. You may need to move further out and commute. My commute to Concord takes me over an hour each way…twice a day, because I can not afford to live in the Bay Area. Suck it up buttercup. However, vets with PTSD are not included in this discussion- we should do all we can for those who gave all to serve this country and ensure we have the freedoms we sometimes take so very much for granted.