Two new homeless camps spring up in Fresno, adding to non-stop issue for the city

Members of Fresno’s homeless population have taken up residence in new two areas in recent weeks, something that has not gone unnoticed by city officials, or advocates who say it shows not enough is being done for the unhoused.

“It’s especially poignant at this time of year,” said H Spees, the city’s homeless initiatives director.

“And we care about them. It hurts our hearts.”

Said Dez Martinez, once homeless and now a fierce advocate for that cause: “The camps are growing. I can’t keep up with them all.”

Dozens are camping in a muddy field on North Warren Avenue, behind the strip of motels on North Parkway Drive, close to where city officials hope to turn run-down motels into transition housing.

And in north Fresno, a large vacant field on the east side of Highway 41 and East Barstow Avenue has been filling with tents and tarps under gloomy, rain-filled skies as residents try to stay warm with camp fires billowing lung-choking smoke.

As the camps spring up, city officials find themselves starting the repeat-as-necessary procedure of contacting property owners, notifying campers that they will have to move, attempting to find housing for the residents and storing their property.

Spees, the city’s point-person on the homeless, noted that the procedure is time-consuming and can be complex. In the case of the Warren Avenue camp, the city attorney must work with six different property owners. The city attorney is also working with the property owner of the Barstow property.

Spees cited a cascade of issues driving the city’s unhoused crisis, including mental health issues, addiction and the surging costs of renting somewhere to live, which has increased exponentially since 2012. He also cited some victories, including 600 people off the city’s canal banks and freeway.

The city has a spreadsheet of encampments, and he said officials are trying to address the camp issues “one by one.”

But Martinez, the advocate for the unhoused, said the procedure the homeless must follow to find shelter is contributing to the problem. She said recently converted motel housing should be open to those who arrive and request shelter.

“They should not have a list. They should say, ‘You need a bed, we’ll let you in.’”

Spees, however, said there must be a “coordinated entry system” to prioritize those most in need, such as victims of human trafficking and other crimes.

“Just because a person can drive up,” he said, “doesn’t mean they can go to the head of the line.”

Both Spees and Martinez highlighted vexing complexities getting people out of the cold and rain.

Martinez said people at the Warren Avenue encampment were waiting to get a place in one of the converted motel rooms. At least some of those at the Barstow encampment formerly lived along the freeway nearby, but did not get along with those near the Warren encampment, so they returned to the other site.

“We’ve had so many people die on the streets, “she said, citing the homicide of a homeless man Saturday in the Tower District, and the possible homicide of another person early Thursday at Ventura and F streets.

“Go in the shower in your house, take a shower and not be dry for the rest of the day,” said Martinez, illustrating life on the street in the December rain.

Said Spees, who lives near downtown Fresno in the Lowell District:

“Any homeless person deserves a bed. It’s a national, state, and community tragedy, and it’s growing.”