We know homelessness is a problem in Tuolumne County.  What is unknown to most people living here is how much of an issue it is.  Homelessness affects everyone in the county as we all wind up paying for things like law enforcement and first responder time spent on people who have nowhere to go.  It costs our hospital and clinics to treat people who never get over ailments due to their living conditions.  It costs more to educate homeless children, so our schools have a cost too. The list goes […]

Hope can be a noun or a verb. Webster says as an intransitive verb, hope is to cherish a desire with anticipation: to want something to happen or be true. As a noun, hope is defined as desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment. We all need hope to accomplish goals, to give us a reason to put forth our best effort, to carry on when our prospects seem dim. I cherish the desire to see a world without homelessness or hunger with the anticipation of how wonderful […]

I was recently asked why I’ve chosen to work on this project. The questioner brought up a number of potential setbacks and obstacles to delivering the level of service we envision to people on the margins, not the least of which is public indifference or even hostility toward homeless people. I understand it will be challenging and even a small group of outspoken people can derail a project by shouting loud enough, but we have to make this effort for the sake of our collective community soul. What does it […]