by Tom Sims
I had an imaginary conversation with God recently. I shared it in the park at an event remembering our unhoused neighbors.
Here is an abbreviated version.
Tom: God, why do you allow people to suffer in so many ways. For instance, why are so many people unable to find and keep secure and safe housing?
God: Good morning to you too, Tom. Well, let me answer your question with a question.
Tom: OK.
God: What’s that between your shoulders?
Tom: My neck?
God: Higher.
Tom: My head?
God: Inside, your brain.
Tom: Oh, yes.
God: Now lower, your mouth. And dangling at your sides. Your hands.
Tom: I think I’m following you.
God: Now, from your trunk to the ground.
Tom: My legs and feet.
God: Right. They all seem to be working. I gave them to you. Now use them. Then, ask me why I allow the pain.
On December 21, a group of community members assembled at the invitation of Fresno Homeless Advocates to remember the lives of those who died on the streets of Fresno in the last year. They convened at Eaton Plaza, downtown, and called the names of the unhoused who had come to the end of their journeys.
Dean McDonald played the keyboards. Allen and Ruth Goyne of Ruth and the Kernal sang. Students from Memorial High School read the names. The Rev Tim Kutzmark, Minister Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno, led a litany of remembrance. Samantha Ortiz was emcee and was joined by Gordie Ochinero-Bermudez and Mimi Fanucci in organizing the event.
Ron Martin shared a challenge he had prepared with Paul Thomas Jackson.
Ron said he “read this statement to begin the winter-solstice Homeless Persons Memorial at the Eton Park amphitheater, both memorializing those who died in 2024 while experiencing homelessness and advocating the passage of AB 2200, to establish CalCare, health care for all Californians including those homeless.”
He continued:
“Our dual purpose today is to advocate a change in public policy, and to memorialize the lives lost in 2024. That is the context of Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day, December 21st, on which communities like ours gather annually. The importance of community and of the social identity each of us possesses impel us to remember the people who died homeless. And my advocacy for change is for passage of Assembly Bill 2200 for single payer health care, to be called Cal Care.”
“There is one human race. All people across the globe are genetically connected. We are like the cells of one organism. And because we recognize humans are not only individuals but also social creatures, the loss of other human lives in our struggling community holds a special significance for us. We seek to live good lives and believe we can do so properly in a responsive community. Then if we walk by an unsheltered person, whose basic human needs clearly are not being met—as Dr. Sam Tsemberis would say, a small part of us dies.”
“Today, we recognize the loss of distant relatives, our homeless neighbors, as basic morality directs us to do. Over the last decade, Fresno has made some progress toward that ideal, but this community still has far, far to go to reach it.”
Read and download full message and more by clicking here.
Poverello House also held a memorial event in the form of a candlelight vigil. “We read 70 names tonight, remembering the names, remembering their lives. That’s what keeps them alive in our hearts and in our community and brings dignity to the life that they lived,” Zach Darrah, CEO of Poverello House said.
Darrah noted that 1400 people live on the streets of Fresno.
“We will work to end homelessness one person at a time so that one day we won’t have to have this event because there’ll be no names to read,” Darrah said.
While much is being done in our community to address chronic homelessness, it is not enough and sometimes it leaves people falling through the cracks.
A recent commentary from the media source, Uspark, noted, “Criminalizing homelessness in Fresno is costing taxpayers millions. It costs $104 per day to jail someone in Fresno County, adding up to $62 million a year for individuals with no choice but to sleep on sidewalks. Over the past two months, 181 unhoused people have been arrested under an ordinance that unfairly targets this vulnerable community.”
There is a trend to require unhoused people to move into programs that resolve the underlying conditions of their homelessness before securing permanent housing. While a good argument can be made that this approach helps many, it also leaves some behind. It is not because they are morally deficient or unwilling to change, but they may not be able to adapt to the programs offered.
In a recent report, KQED noted that “California is ground zero for the nation’s homelessness crisis and the National Homelessness Law Center says California’s new tally of camping bans is higher than any other state in the nation. Advocates for homeless people say that Fresno’s law is among the toughest in the state: banning camping, sitting or lying on public property anytime, anywhere.”
Paul Thomas Jackson, of Fresno Homeless Advocates, said recently, “The standards of Fresno, California do not reflect the basic needs of all its members. Some progress toward a responsive community has been made here in recent years, but we have far to go. Moral dialogue is urgently needed to address the local crisis of homelessness.”
San Joaquin Valley Free Medical Clinic and Needle Exchange was present with people to remember, but also a reminder that “harm prevention” keeps people alive until they are ready and able to receive treatment for addictions that may be part of their homelessness.
Samantha Ortiz, whose father, who was unhoused, died after collapsing in someone’s front yard, thanked the public for remembering those who had been left behind this year. She expressed her gratitude for all those who participated in the day of remembering:
“What a beautiful turn out of the events we had today at the local homeless persons Memorial Day downtown. I am a lifelong Fresnian and I do believe in community. It was my first homeless persons Memorial Day event where the day was beautiful and sunny. Our community of housed and unhoused came together to hear stories, speak advocacy and share a delicious meal. Thank you to everyone who showed support, thank you to the students from Memorial High who came to volunteer and thank you to our local faith leaders who also came and spoke! My heart is so full.”
It was a good day to remember those we have lost.
No Man Is an Island by John Donne
No man is an island,
Entire of itself;
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less,
As well as if a promontory were:As well as if a manor of thy friend’s
Or of thine own were.
Any man’s death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
References
Fresno Homeless Advocates
facebook.com/groups/fresnohomelessadvocates
NATIONAL COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS
nationalhomeless.org
Poverello House’s candlelight vigil
yourcentralvalley.com/news/local-news/people-that-care-community-remembers-homeless-lives-lost-in-fresno/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1iC2q3aY23ClqrEkbvrgTF_VGg1DP25bUF2F75pVjgALhc4-REndPTOCw_aem_uv1F8fOYERAA8BS-kAjuCw
Community Alliance article
Fresno: A Cruel and Unusual City
fresnoalliance.com/fresno-a-cruel-and-unusual-city/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1yYDFyhGxJV3UFxyo3nE4EF_rG9CVcgUAZjKIes1DNDXpl8C60zz-PBAk_aem_7SHZg3TX6B6457g8gTP_qg
Fresno Madera Continuum of Care
Take Action
TAKE A DIFFERENCE IN 2025:
Registration is officially open for the 2025 Fresno Madera Continuum of Care Homeless Point-In-Time Count! Volunteering for this important event is not just about counting—it’s about understanding, raising awareness, and supporting those in need. By giving just a little of your time, you can help provide valuable data that shape services, policies, and resources for those experiencing homelessness. Together, we can be part of the solution. Your involvement helps create a brighter, more inclusive future for everyone.
Fresno Registration: bit.ly/fresnopit2025
?Madera Registration: bit.ly/maderapit2025???
#PointInTimeCount #PITcount #EndHomelessness #EndVeteranHomelessness #FresnoCounty #MaderaCounty
San Joaquin Valley Free Medical Clinic and Needle Exchange
freeclinic-exchange.org
Health Department Building
1221 Futon St 93721
Saturdays 9-12
We are the San Joaquin Valley Free Medical Clinic & Needle Exchange, a non-profit organization dedicated to harm-reduction. We are a small band of staff and volunteers providing health care, substance use disorder treatment, and social services for injection drug users. Our aim is to keep people disease free and alive until they can step out of their addiction.
We aim to improve the safety, health care, and welfare of injection drug users by providing them with free health care, substance use disorder treatment, and social services.
The mission of the organization is also to keep people disease free until they are able to actually step out of their addiction.
Documentary – vimeo.com/395044849
All photos are either by Tom Sims.
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