Summit on homelessness draws big crowd at Modesto Centre Plaza

Some 500 people attended the Focus on Prevention summit Thursday at Modesto Centre Plaza, where they were invited to get involved in a 10-year initiative to reduce and prevent homelessness.

The Finding Our Way Home Summit on Homelessness did not feature top experts in the field, but kick-started a homegrown campaign to address one of the more emotional issues in Stanislaus County.

Homelessness is just one prong of county government’s Focus on Prevention, which deals with four quality-of-life issues: homelessness, families, youth and jail recidivism.

Consultant John Ott will work with various action councils to develop projects involving different sectors of the community.

Thursday’s audience heard testimonials from people who had been homeless but managed to get their lives back on track.

Leanne Schoen said she slept in a cemetery on Scenic Drive to avoid detection by police officers. She was able to get help from a mental health outreach worker, who gained her trust. Schoen has lived with a roof over her head for almost a year now.

Other panelists who shared their stories said it was a caring police officer or doctor who inspired them to change their lives.

Ott, who survived 2 1/2 years of homelessness as a teenager in Florida, said the prevention campaign will focus on a vulnerable population of 20,000, not just the 1,408 homeless counted in a point-in-time survey, which is done every two years in Modesto. The larger population includes families that double up in homes, people who board with friends and other folks who are precariously close to losing their homes.

Marvin Jacobo, executive director of City Ministry Network, was among speakers who exhorted the audience not to think of the homeless as “others” but to consider their moral responsibility to help them.

“We are all a gift of God to each other,” Jacobo said.

One component of Focus on Prevention could address housing, or how to increase the supply of affordable housing, Ott said.

A large gap of transitional housing needs to be bridged for those trying to move from the streets to permanent housing. Slightly more than 800 beds are available between hotel vouchers, emergency shelters and transitional homes, which falls 600 units short for the 1,408 known homeless. Ott said he believes many people are missed by the homeless counts and the housing gap is larger.

Those trying to get off the streets may qualify for 462 units of permanent housing, but there are few vacancies.

In the afternoon, breakout sessions were held for drilling down on homeless issues in Modesto, Ceres, Turlock, other cities and unincorporated neighborhoods.

A 60-member action council, which was been meeting for months, will keep working on a plan for preventing homelessness and helping people who want to get off the streets. The Board of Supervisors will consider awarding mini-grants to efforts that engage multiple sectors in reducing homelessness. Those sectors include business, nonprofit groups, health, philanthropy, faith, neighborhoods, sports, the arts, entertainment and media.

Additional Focus on Prevention summits on families, youth and crime will be held in the next two years.

Richard Williamsen, a deacon at St. Frances of Rome Catholic Church in Riverbank, said he was pleased with the turnout Thursday. It is easy to feel powerless about assisting the chronically homeless, he said.

“Just keep your eyes and ears open for opportunities to help,” Williamsen advised. “We can’t expect government to do everything. That is lazy.”

Angela Huerta of Ceres said she attended the summit to network with those who want to work on the issues. Huerta complained recently about dangerous homeless camps near the Tuolumne River. Her persistence paid off when authorities closed them, she said.

“I am glad we are talking about it and starting to network” Huerta said.

Halee White, who told a harrowing story of childhood trauma and heroin addiction, which left her homeless for a time, said she hopes the event created a better understanding of the homeless.

“I just want people to know we are all equal and to respect where we are on the journey of life,” White said.

This story was originally published October 1, 2015 at 6:23 PM with the headline "Summit on homelessness draws big crowd at Modesto Centre Plaza."