Downtown Streets Team workers can find jobs. Housing? That’s a much bigger problem
As homeless people gain employment through the help of a local program, demand for its services rises, but securing housing continues to be a barrier.
Downtown Streets Team (DST) launched in Modesto in 2019 with 25 participants, who volunteered cleaning up the city in exchange for basic need stipends and employment assistance.
Greg Pensinger, director of the Stanislaus County DST, said that since the start of the program, 23 people have graduated into employment and 40 people are currently on the waiting list to join. “I would love to be able to expand our team to serve 1,200 individuals … but the reality is that we don’t have the bandwidth,” he said.
DST is based in Modesto but gets people from places like Ceres and Patterson who want to join. That’s fine, Pensinger said, but they have to make it into Modesto to do the work. DST clients pick up trash and simultaneously seek employment with the help of a DST specialist. They gain employment depending on their previous experience and skills.
In January, the city and the program partnered to create the Camp2Home program, through which DST was able to double its capacity, funding a second team of 25 individuals. DST employment specialist David Guzman said the program provides employed participants with 70% of their rent for six months and 30% an additional six months after that.
As DST’s three-year contract ends in December, Pensinger said the organization seeks a six-month extension and additional funding. He said he remains optimistic that its request for $360,637 for rapid housing and job training assistance, as well as $450,000 for its original employment assistance project, will be approved.
Landlords fear not getting paid
However, Guzman said the organization’s biggest challenge is finding landlords willing to house DST participants and accept the subsidy. “Once some of our landlords find out where our clients were staying at, they sometimes forget that they’re human just like anybody else,” he said.
Even though the subsidy is guaranteed, Guzman said many landlords don’t believe payment is certain. He also said people go through rough patches, but DST clients like Denez Price and Chris Mclintock have gone through the program’s steps and deserve housing.
“I’ve failed so many times in the past, so that motivated me even more … to do better,” Price said. After starting with DST in February, Price secured employment a month later but hasn’t been able to find housing. He said he wishes he could have the opportunity to prove to landlords that he can follow rules and keep the rental property in good condition.
“(Landlords) should stop listening to stereotypes,” Mclintock said, adding that they should make an effort to meet with applicants like him before they decline. The Navy veteran, who served in Operation Desert Storm, said he became unhoused in October 2018 after his wife passed away from a brain aneurysm.
He said he thought, “My partner is gone, what’s the point?” But the need to feed his pit bull, Issac, led him to DST, where he says he gained confidence and built up his work ethic again through 1,700 hours of volunteering. Like Price, he later gained full time employment through the Downtown Modesto Partnership.
Mclintock said he has a strong attachment to Issac because he feels the dog kept him alive and indoors, away from a winter storm that killed two people. For the dog’s sake, Mclintock stayed in a shelter with Issac instead of wandering the streets in the cold.
Guzman said despite Mclintock having a letter from a doctor declaring Issac an emotional support animal, finding housing for him is hard. Some landlords restrict pit bulls, and Mclintock is unwilling to accept housing that doesn’t accept his dog.
DST houses woman and her dog
But hard doesn’t mean impossible. For Colleen McBride and her dog, Poopy, housing became a reality in May when she obtained a room in a house with a backyard. “There were days when I thought, ‘I’m never going to get out of here. I’m never going to get housing,’ but I never gave up,” she said.
Originally from Turlock, McBride said she became unhoused after being in one abusive relationship after another. Despite struggling with low self-esteem, she said she wanted to move forward.
“If it hadn’t been for … the street team, I wouldn’t be where I’m at today,” she said. About a year ago, McBride became one of three people hired through Ready to Work, which serves as an internship to prepare her for a potential full time opportunity with the California Department of Transportation.
McBride’s landlord and roommate, Kathy Munoz, said she began preparing the house for someone in need when her husband became ill. He died of heart disease in 2020.
“I was not happy here by myself when Tom died. I’m cleaning the house. I’m cooking the meals, but this isn’t any fun because you’re not doing it for anybody else,” she said.
Munoz said she understands McBride well, adding that her sister, too, was a victim of domestic violence.
She said her sister also had been to prison for a minor drug charge. Though that’s not the case with McBride, this opened Munoz’s heart to housing someone who had done time.
“You’re not taking a risk. You’re just getting somebody that’s a presence here,” Munoz said. She believes people like McBride who’ve had to prove themselves in order to qualify for housing deserve it.
Moreover, Munoz said she feels good about the arrangement not only because DST was able to match her with someone who has similar interests and personality, but also because a lease is in place. She said DST checks in often and will mediate issues if they arise.
Munoz said she wants people to stop complaining about the homelessness crisis and start finding ways they can help. “Probably almost every home you see here is occupied by one or two people,” she said. “If they were open to this idea, we wouldn’t have a homeless problem.”
Those open to housing DST participants should contact Case Manager Chris Unciano at 209-494-7053 to learn more.
This story was originally published June 17, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
