‘Cowboy capital’ and other Stanislaus cities begin discussions on homelessness

Cities in Stanislaus County have started to hold their own discussions on homelessness, a topic capable of drawing a sizable crowd these days.

About 500 attended the county’s Focus on Prevention homelessness summit Oct. 1 at Modesto Centre Plaza. As an outgrowth of that convening, city managers were asked to hold meetings in their communities to measure interest among the different sectors in developing a homeless initiative.

According to the county’s website, about 200 people gathered around tables and shared their perspectives at Oakdale’s summit held Oct. 26. The people attending the meeting outnumbered Oakdale’s homeless population by 3 to 1.

The 2015 homeless count in Stanislaus County found 70 people living on the streets in Oakdale, though many believe the survey’s result is an undercount.

The county’s homeless initiative is styled after the community transformation movement in the U.S. The meetings are not really town-hall debates so much as occasions for sharing collective wisdom.

Oakdale City Manager Bryan Whitemyer said the turnout for the summit showed that community members are engaged. Homelessness “is something that people see. It is something that warrants the attention of the city and members of the community – to try to reduce the number of individuals who experience homelessness,” he said.

Whitemyer said enough interest was shown in Oakdale to hold a second meeting, more than likely after the holidays.

Ruben Imperial, community development and empowerment manager for the county, said about 30 people attended a similar meeting held in Patterson on Monday.

Modesto City Manager Jim Holgersson is working on a meeting specifically focused on the city believed to harbor almost 1,000 homeless. The Modesto summit will be held in February or March, a spokeswoman said.

Something is brewing in Turlock as well.

Homeless populations are considered at crisis levels in some places in the western United States, with several cities including Los Angeles and Portland, Ore., declaring a state of emergency this fall to address issues.

With the Stanislaus County initiative, government is not supposed to play a central role in the community transformation process, so the city managers are expected to step aside for other leaders.

“We believe that unless all the sectors are working together around common strategies, we won’t see the impacts,” Imperial said.

The homeless initiative is organized around the nine sectors, or pillars, of society, which include private industry, education, arts and entertainment, sports, government, media, religion, nonprofit agencies and health care. As things continue to gel, those sectors could get involved in projects and initiatives to provide transitional housing, put homeless people to work or prevent people from becoming homeless.

An action council has worked for months compiling information and is working on strategies to recommend to a stewardship council.

The action council will hold its next meeting from 1:30 to 5 p.m. Dec. 10. The location will be posted on www.preventionfocus.net under “Meetings & events.”

This story was originally published November 19, 2015 at 6:07 PM with the headline "‘Cowboy capital’ and other Stanislaus cities begin discussions on homelessness."