I'll wait, brother hillbilly.
It all began pre Covid.
We really did not have all that much of a homeless situation up here. Some vagabonds. People living on the foot or out of vans. Climbers live like that. And with the park nearby and campgrounds..... You would see some just on the foot going walk about, back pack, tent and bag.
We had one real homeless guy for the most part. He had plenty of money. He could do high math in his head and geometry. You did NOT want to shoot pool with Walter on a good day. Sometimes he would just sit at a bar and solve the worlds problems on a knapkin. They say he was a millionaire that just chose that life. Kinda went nutz one day and wanted for nothing. Had a home and property, Cold nights, he would sleep in his truck parked behind the Methodist church, where they let him park. He had a routine and a wad of cash. One liquor store in the morning, other one in the afternoon. Order dinner at the bar.......
During the 08 crash, people and families lost homes. We started with those. Churches took them in and gave them places to sleep. It was either that or head down the hill 35 plus miles to the nearest shelter hoping for a bed. We had some success stories from that. Habitat for Humanity built a couple houses, People got jobs and had the address from the church they registered with for food stamps and welfare as needed. Knew a couple of the families as they had kids with our kids in 4H and Scouting.
Well, with such good out comes on a small scale, lets do the right thing and let homeless down in the valley know we have beds and meals up here as needed. Not so many jobs, but. All the churches started a rotation of meals and beds. and advertised it with the valley churches and shelters. And of course alcohol and substance abuse resources.
Build it and they shall come. And they did. In droves. Some serious addicts, mentally unstable, well, you can imagine.
The little churches could not house them all. Or feed them all. I think one church even got an arsonist helping them keep warm one night.
But they move them out during the day and during normal church hours to go find a stoop somewhere to piss and shit on. Sometimes they hide some of the paraphernalia in the church. Sometimes some stash. Then they find hidey holes around the play ground and stuff to smoke crack near high dead dry grass etc. Down by the creek... places like that.
Ones down in the valley are constantly responsible for the fires along the free way green belts. Just drive through Fresno.
So our drug trade did better up here having more customers.
We already had a problem. Now it started to escalate.
Covid about shut it down right when some of the churches started pulling out of the program.
Then the State said, we gotta give them a camp. So they have one where you can smell them cooking the meth next to CDF, Human Services Building and a kids church school. Had to shoot two there. Attacking folks don't bode well. Especially when the officer says cease and desist and you come at him.
So no good deed goes unpunished.
Between the cartel grows up here and the homeless druggies, it has become interesting indeed.
Nice little town.
Readers digest version.
The larger cities are hella worse.
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