From Romania With Love

When leaving Safeway last night I was approached by a family who had a sign explaining their plight.  It is almost commonplace to be asked for a handout when leaving Safeway, so much so they have  a hired security firm, who sometimes are there and most often not.  Anyways, I told them that there are services in the area that can help feed you with a stern look.  The father said, "We speak no English", and I thought, 'go figure'.  Been there, done that.  The father said they were from Romania.  I tried to speak to what I figured was an 8 year old boy thinking he knows English, but all I got was a blank stare. OK, so maybe their story is true I thought.

Frustrated I went back into the store to chat with the store manager.  I told him that I am tired of always being asked for handouts when I am at this store.  If you would could you please tell this family (or whomever it is) that there are services for these people.  It is a polite way to say, "get lost" but if you must go, here are some options.  I knew because of the language barrier that nothing was going to be accomplished.  At this time the family was in the store.  I left and I heard the father say, "Thank you" from a distance.  Not sure if he was being a smart ass cause I just got him booted, or he was thankful.  I felt bad that this family was not getting what I was trying to do.  That is, that there are places they can go.  I stopped them and wrote on their message cardboard piece, the name Salvation Army, and looked up the address to their location.  He asked, that I was able to surmise, "Church, Catholic".  I told them to get to the Salvation Army and they could help.  I showed them that I had no cash on me as I was prepared to give them money to take the bus, so hopefully they can get there.

There is no real moral of the story here, but just an odd happening.  How did a family from Romania get stuck at a Safeway in Modesto?  It does bring up the point that where panhandling is commonplace, that employees could be at least educated on where to send them.  There is no need for panhandling when Modesto has meals and beds for them.

Now I Need Some Help

Who can point me in the right direction to get Uncle Tom some "medical" help?  He is basically indigent. I know there are some free services for the homeless.  Technically, he is homeless.

As I have chronicled, Uncle Tom is a big help to our little college area neighborhood by painting over graffiti and helping out when needed.  Even after all the park visitors from Easter Sunday left Enslen Park a complete mess, Tom and a buddy went and got all the recyclables and put all the trash that was "attempted"  to be put in the trash cans and tidied up the park.  It is always "fun" when the park is visited by folks who prefer the "thug life". They could give a s**t about cleaning up properly.

Anyways, Tom is severely ADHD or ADD and cannot focus.  This prevents him from holding down a real job.  He can work hard on a project for about an hour, and then it is "Look, a squirrel" and the job rarely gets finished.  If you have seen the TV show, Hoarders, that is what my backyard look like.  Hoarding is derived from one of the two previously mentioned conditions.  He also got himself in a little trouble with the law.  Bottom line is that I am sick of my backyard looking like a junk yard.  If he continues in his current pattern he will be incarcerated again.  He has reverted back to what used to get him in trouble years ago.  I want to get him help and I cannot afford it.  I know there are services out there.  Please let me know where I can go.

thanks
DWiz

Blue Ribbons Committee findings

At the city council meeting last night, I was pleased with the findings and the response.  Even the anti-anti homeless folks in attendance may have been "moved" when they realized the committee was not "Anti-homeless" and that they are not out to get the homeless.

As I have always preached, it is not necessarily the homeless that cause the problems in Enslen and Graceada Park specifically.  Homelessness breads vagrancy.  I believe the vagrancy comes from 3 specific areas when it comes to Enslen and Graceada.

The first is what I call the "400 Blocks".  The 400 blocks of Sycamore and Park Ave to be specific.  Residents at the 400 block of Sycamore are not allowed into the "green store" at Sycamore and Morris any longer.  Petty crimes have given Sunny no other choice to ban them he says. I agree as I drive by there all the time and see the folks slithering around.

The second are the guys walking around in a stupor just getting off parole at the Parole offices at Needham and Olive.  They have nowhere to go but to the parks. Parolees no longer have to have a physical address to go to.

Thirdly, the Modesto Inn. Period. Enough said there.

When the homeless are lying around with their trailers, blankets, and their brown paper bags it is an invitation to the aforementioned to blend in.  Then idle time kicks in and problems develop.

I look forward to the city council moving forward and making the changes as suggested by the Blue Ribbon's report.  Lets move swift though.  Time for research is over, it is time TO DO now.

BTW, when I got home, I hugged my cats.

The "History of Graffiti" at the State, really?

So author and photographer Jim Prigoff is giving a lecture and slide show on "The History of Graffiti" tomorrow night at the State Theatre here in Modesto.  My thought is, wrong city at the wrong time.  We know that graffiti is an "art" and I am not one to hold back on the "arts", but in Modesto, graffiti is known as "tagging" first, art maybe.  Mr. Prigoff is no dummy.  He knows where is markets are.

He is supposed to convert these taggers into "artists"? Not sure of that is the idea or not.

Finally. However...

Ok the graffiti on the "water pump" wall at Poplar and Stoddard was finally taken care of after nearly two months of it being tagged.  It will get tagged again, so my question is, who painted over it? Was it the cities abatement team or the business itself, or another nearby business?
I want to know who to call when it gets tagged again.  I called the "hotline" over a month ago and I believe it was finally painted over yesterday.  If anybody has any answers please inquire.

I know it is baby steps and it is a process to get graffiti taken care of, but why did this take so long? I know that city employees had to see this on a daily basis.  Why wouldn't they say something to the abatement team?  They just passed the buck so to say?

The graffiti shown here across the street on a residential fence has been there just as long.  Shouldn't somebody be knocking on their front door saying that it needs to be taken care of? How about a fine if it is not taken care of in a timely manner?  At the least a bucket of paint should be dropped off on their front porch.  Or give me the paint and I will get Uncle Tom to paint over it.