Modesto park cleanup nets 1,200 pounds of trash, leaves homeless scrambling
Sixty-four-year-old Lori Huff says she and a friend have camped by a picnic area in the Tuolumne River Regional Park near the Modesto Airport for about a year.
The campsite is in plain view, but Huff said she needs to be close to the bathrooms. The price for that proximity is that Huff said she and her friend, Eddie Orellana, have had to move their campsite about eight times after Modesto police posted notices stating they were camping illegally.
It happened again Wednesday morning as part of a city parks and recreation cleanup of a section of the regional park. Police — including a sergeant, park ranger and homeless outreach workers — were there to help parks and rec. This was Modesto’s 15th homeless cleanup this year, according to a city spokeswoman.
Sgt. Eric Schuller said about six campsites were posted late Tuesday afternoon. He said one to two people were living at each site.
The notices say the campsites violate the city’s ordinances against camping and the occupants must leave immediately or face being cited or taken to jail. Any property left behind would be stored or thrown away. No one was cited or taken to jail Wednesday.
Several homeless people at the park said authorities did not give campers enough time.
But Schuller said police had posted the roughly half-dozen campsites several times in recent weeks with the notices. He said police give campers at least 72 hours to pack up and leave before enforcing the notice. He said outreach workers also had been at the campsites offering services.
He said no enforcement action would be taken Wednesday against camps that had not been posted. He said four of the roughly six campsites that had been posted were gone Wednesday morning.
Huff said it’s frustrating when she has to set up camp again and city crews take some of her clothing, shoes and other possessions because she cannot gather all of them up in time.
“I think it sucks,” she said. “I get that they don’t want us out front here (in plain sight). Hidden out, they’re a little more lenient, but they do hit there, too. They do hit them. They’ll go down every gully, every little nook way.”
Wednesday’s cleanup focused on a popular section of the regional park by the airport. Campsites further east and hidden along the river were not part of the cleanup. Parks and rec workers picked up litter, trash and debris from throughout that section of the park.
Modesto spokeswoman Diana Ruiz-Del Re said crews removed 1,200 pounds of trash, litter and debris.
Cross-country meets
She said there are upcoming events scheduled for that section of the park, including a Modesto Junior College cross-country meet Sept. 30, a cross country meet featuring area high school runners Oct. 26 and MJC’s Turkey Trot and Gobbler Walk on Thanksgiving.
The Tuolumne River Regional Park is about 500 acres and stretches for about seven miles along the river, from Mitchell to Carpenter roads.
Schuller said police officers, park rangers and outreach workers will visit the campsites tucked along the riverbank in the less used parts of the regional park.
He said officers, rangers and outreach workers strive to have good relationships with people who are homeless. He said they balance enforcing city ordinances while offering help. But he said the parks are for the enjoyment of the entire community.
“We want this to be a park people want to come to,” Schuller said.
Huff and Orellana were sitting by their packed up belongings wondering what they would do next. Homeless friends dropped by to commiserate and offer advice.
“They are just enforcing the law,” Orellana said about Wednesday’s cleanup. “... I can’t get mad at them for doing their job.”
Orellana said he worries about how the cleanups affect Huff because she has more possessions to lose than he does. He said he has encouraged her to rent a storage unit but said she won’t. “That’s the only thing that bugs me,” he said, “when she loses all her stuff, and I can’t do nothing about it.”
Orellana, 32, said he is from Modesto and has been homeless for about four years. He said he messed up, was kicked out of the military then lost a job after about a month. “I started using again,” he said, “and I’ve been homeless ever since.”
The two friends said they don’t want to go to a shelter. They said they don’t feel safe around that many people, don’t like the rules, and don’t want to give up their dogs. They have four of them, including Jasper, a black Lab that has been with Huff for about a dozen years.
“They’re like my kids,” she said. “They are my kids.”
Huff said she has been homeless for several years since her mother died. She said she had taken care of her mom.
Huff said she is retired and collects nearly $1,100 a month in Social Security. She said she is on waiting lists for affordable housing but said she has been on them for years.
Huff said she worked in food processing in Modesto for about a quarter century. She said her jobs included inspecting tomatoes at a cannery for the Processing Tomato Advisory Board, quality control for S&W Foods and at the warehouse at Ninth and D streets near downtown that processed walnuts and almonds.
That warehouse now is The Salvation Army’s Berberian Center and home to two shelters.
Camped along Dry Creek
Huff said she used to live in the parks along Dry Creek in the La Loma area until the police moved her along. She said her two sisters help her. One brings food and the other has helped her financially. She said both drive her to medical appointments.
She laughed when asked why she could not live with one of them. “We wouldn’t be sisters anymore,” Huff said.
Modesto has tried to tackle homelessness by enforcing its ordinances against such violations as illegal camping or being in a park after hours and by offering services.
But that approach appears not to work with some longtime homeless people. The Bee has spoken with other homeless people who live along the Tuolumne River who say they just pick up and camp elsewhere along the river when the police post their campsites.
So would it be more humane, less expensive and keep parks cleaner if the city offered a safe camping site or sites for those people who are not ready or may never by ready to go to a shelter or accept services?
Outreach workers could continue to work with these people who camp at these designated areas that would have security and some services.
But Ruiz-Del Re, the city spokeswoman, said Modesto is committed to its current strategy of enforcement coupled with outreach and services. “We’re pretty optimistic that over time people will take services,” she said. “Over time, people eventually do.”
Modesto is working on launching a safe parking pilot program of 25 spaces for people who live in their cars. The car campers would be provided with services.
This story was originally published September 22, 2022 at 9:36 AM.
