On April 7, a massive fleet of California Highway Patrol cars, Fresno Police Department cars, public works vehicles, trash trucks, skip loaders and other heavy equipment arrived in the early morning [...] Continue Reading
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Refusing to Remain Invisible
A historic lawsuit, led by longtime homeless advocate Dez Martinez, founder of We Are Not Invisible, has been filed against the City of Fresno. Because of Martinez’s efforts, unhoused residents of the [...] Continue Reading
When Tragedy Knocks at Your Door
Lewis Brown, a 62-year-old homeless man, was assaulted by Fresno Police Department officers at a homeless encampment in West Fresno in February 2020. He has now filed a class-action lawsuit against [...] Continue Reading
Money for Lawsuits, No Money for Warming Centers and No Empathy
As the City of Fresno continues to break up homeless encampments, refuses to keep warming centers open and fails to provide basic sanitation, the mayor, the City Council and the city attorney are [...] Continue Reading
City and County Have Millions Yet Only Kick People When They’re Down
On Jan. 12, it was a truly dystopian scene at H and San Benito streets in downtown Fresno. Police car lights in the dense fog, the jaws of large heavy equipment scooping up property and debris in the [...] Continue Reading
City and County Have Millions While Unhoused Die in the Streets
On Dec. 14, the Fresno Police Department’s Homeless Assistance Response Team (HART, aka the heartless team) raided a small homeless encampment behind a convenience store during a hard, cold rainstorm. [...] Continue Reading
Shelters Are Not Housing
Update on the encampment sweep at Dakota and Palm avenues: The Fresno Irrigation District in conjunction with the Fresno Police Department raided an encampment of 30 people on the canal bank near the [...] Continue Reading
$75 Million in the Bank and No Basic Services for the Unhoused
By Bob McCloskey On Oct. 14, at the regular Fresno City Council meeting, Council Member Miguel Arias said that the City of Fresno currently has $75 million in funds allocated for housing and [...] Continue Reading
Following the Money for the Unhoused
By Bob McCloskey In one of the hottest summers on record, the City of Fresno continues to fail to provide housing for its most vulnerable citizens. As the mayor and City Council members tout their [...] Continue Reading
On the More Money Trail “Allegedly” for the Unhoused
By Bob McCloskey Recently, Fresno County “cleaned up” a homeless encampment along Kings Canyon Avenue, just east of Temperance Avenue. The folks at the encampment had to move to County [...] Continue Reading
On the Money Trail for the Unhoused
On April 28, the Fresno City Council held a workshop titled “Homeless and Housing Strategy” as part of a “special” meeting. The City released the workshop documents just 24 hours before the meeting [...] Continue Reading
Public Funds to Shelter the Unhoused: Crossroads on the Money Trail
We, the community, are at a crossroads. Do we accept a continued failed effort to “shelter the homeless”? Do we continue to pour millions of dollars into the current system of temporary housing, law [...] Continue Reading