‘Homeless in Modesto’ film has a sequel. Panel will discuss progress at premiere
The State Theatre will host the Nov. 13 premiere of “Homeless in Modesto II,” the sequel to a 2018 documentary.
Both hourlong films feature interviews with numerous unhoused residents and social service providers.
The 6 p.m. screening will be followed by a panel discussion on progress toward permanent housing. It will include local leaders, plus a poet and aspiring social worker who has lived on the streets herself.
The $10 tickets will benefit the shelter at Family Promise of Greater Modesto. The doors will open at 5 p.m. at the venue, 1307 J St. Tickets can be reserved at www.thestate.org.
Both films were spearheaded by Richard Anderson, a retired professor of biology at Modesto Junior College. He and his partners interviewed people over several years for the sequel.
“Much of the documentary is presentation of detailed case studies of certain local, unsheltered homeless folk,” Anderson said by email. “Most have fallen in between the cracks of our social services in severe ways.”
Part of the 2018 film depicted the clearing of a homeless camp in Beard Brook Park, just east of downtown. Police gave residents time to collect their belongings. Later that year, a federal court in Boise ruled that such actions were allowed only if shelter beds were available.
That prompted the Modesto Outdoor Emergency Shelter, a few hundred tents placed under the Ninth Street bridge on the Tuolumne River for part of 2019. MOES had restrooms and social and medical services, but no heating or cooling. Officials deemed it too large to manage.
The city and county have worked since then on adding shelter beds and turning aging motels and other sites into apartments. Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court decided last year that camps could be cleared without a guarantee of shelter.
The Nov. 13 panel will be moderated by MJC English Professor Sam Pierstorff. The other speakers:
- Ruby Hawke, a poet who was homeless for nearly a decade and is close to completing her master’s degree in social work.
- Jim Stokes, director of the Salvation Army Berberian Center. It provides beds and daytime services at Ninth and D streets.
- Dr. James Kraus, who treats ailing and injured people as part of the Valley Streetz Harm Reduction Program.
- Miriah Brazil, director of Family Promise. It was formed in 2005 by several churches to offer meals and beds on weeklong rotations. Since January, it has all been done in a remodeled part of Church of the Brethren on Woodland Avenue. The site can hold up to 28 parents and children and also has a dining hall and social services..
- City Councilmember Nick Bavaro, who has often visited with people living in parks and other outdoor places. He appears in the sequel.
Fog Light Media did some of the filming and edited the final product. The Modesto company’s owner, Ben Hoover, was aided by his father, Dave Hoover. Longtime homeless advocate Frank Ploof is also on the team. The Modesto Peace Life Center helped with the funding.
The sequel’s 27-second trailer can be viewed on the State website. The entire 2018 film is on YouTube.
The first “Homeless in Modesto” also debuted at the State with a panel discussion and Family Promise fundraiser. Much of the same team did both films.
This story was originally published November 6, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
