Everybody has a story.
And sometimes their stories may just have to do with bad luck and bad choices.
That's what Renee Davenport says about the homeless people living in the Black Rascal Creek camp near the railroad tracks and Highway 99.
PHOTO BY LISA JAMES
Dorrine Joiner, 51, talks with Merced homeless advocate Rene Davenport about recent changes in her life at the Black Rascal Homeless Camp where she has lived since last spring. Joiner, whose says her disability payments are not enough to afford an apartment, keeps a clean and orderly living space which she has decorated with photos and other items from her last apartment. August 26, 2010
Merced Sun-Star - PHOTO BY LISA JAMES
Dorrine Joiner, 51, left, talks with Merced homeless advocate Rene Davenport at the Black Rascal Creek homeless camp where she has lived since spring. Joiner, who says her disability payments are not enough to afford an apartment, keeps a clean and orderly living space which she has decorated with photos and other items from her last apartment.
SUN-STAR PHOTO BY LISA JAMES Dorrine Joiner, 51, sits in her tent with her dog special in her lap as she talks about recent changes in her life at the Black Rascal Homeless Camp where she has lived since last spring. Joiner has taken great care in making her tent a home. Although she enjoys her independence, Joiner says she will go to live with her daughter when the camp closes. August 26, 2010
Merced Sun-Star - SUN-STAR PHOTO BY LISA JAMES A photo of Dorrine Joiner's grandaughter and great grandson sits on an end table in her tent at the Black Rascal Homeless Camp where she has lived since last spring. Joiner has taken great care in making her tent a home. Although she enjoys her independence, Joiner says she will go to live with her daughter when the camp closes. August 26, 2010
SUN-STAR PHOTO BY LISA JAMES Pastor Herrera from Valley Harvest Church in Merced, talks with Victor at the Black Rascal Homeless Camp about his options beyond life at the camp shortly after his arrival there last spring. Victor, is a 290, or registered sex offender, a status which severly limits his living and employment options. April 10, 2010
SUN-STAR PHOTO BY LISA JAMES Dorrine Joiner, 51, sits in her tent with her dog special in her lap as she talks about recent changes in her life at the Black Rascal Homeless Camp where she has lived since last spring. August 26, 2010
SUN-STAR PHOTO BY LISA JAMES Dorrine Joiner, and her former companion Victor discuss their options beyond life at the camp with a local church group shortly after their arrival there last spring. April 10, 2010
SUN-STAR PHOTO BY LISA JAMES Monica Villa checks on the garden she has cultivated next to her tent at the Black Rascal Homeless Camp she has called home for the last 6 months. Villa, an Atwater native, says she is living there by choice and has come to think of the others in the camp as family. Villa now regularly attends city council meetings to speak on their behalf. August 26, 2010
SUN-STAR PHOTO BY LISA JAMES Shortly after moving to the Black Rascal Homeless Camp last Spring, Monica Villa, left, prays with church members from Valley Harvest Church in Merced. The church group, who visits the camp once a month, is one of many faith based groups who have been paying visits to the camps as all involved search for a solution. April 10, 2010
SUN-STAR PHOTO BY LISA JAMES Victor heads out for the day from the Black Rascal Homeless Camp where he lives. Victor, is a 290, or registered sex offender, a status which severly limits his living and employment options. April 10, 2010
PHOTO BY LISA JAMES Dorrine Joiner, 51, pets her dog Special in her tent at the Black Rascal Homeless Camp she has called home since last spring.
SUN-STAR PHOTO BY LISA JAMES Monica Villa comes out of her tent at the Black Rascal Homeless Camp where she has lived since late last winter. Villa, an Atwater native, says she is living there by choice and has come to think of the others in the camp as family. Villa now regularly attends city council meetings to speak on their behalf. April 10, 2010
Merced Sun-Star - SUN-STAR PHOTO BY LISA JAMES Monica Villa shows off the garden she has cultivated next to her tent at the Black Rascal Homeless Camp she has called home for the last 6 months. Villa, an Atwater native, says she is living there by choice and has come to think of the others in the camp as family. Villa now regularly attends city council meetings to speak on their behalf. August 26, 2010
SUN-STAR PHOTO BY LISA JAMES Expired food items, left behind by well-meaning groups or individuals, lay piled up on a dirty discarded mattress at the entrance to the Black Rascal homeless camp. Since the city does not provide the camp with dumpsters or trash removal, volunteers regularly organize clean-up days, hauling trash out in their own vehicles.
Merced Sun-Star - PHOTO BY LISA JAMES
Monica Villa sits in her tent where she has lived since late winter. Villa, an Atwater native, says she is living there by choice and has come to think of the others in the camp as family. Villa now regularly attends City Council meetings to speak on their behalf.
Merced Sun-Star - SUN-STAR PHOTO BY LISA JAMES Shortly after moving to the Black Rascal Homeless Camp last Spring, Monica Villa, center, prays with church members from Valley Harvest Church in Merced. The church group, who visits the camp once a month, is one of many faith based groups who have been paying visits to the camps as all involved search for a solution. April 10, 2010
SUN-STAR PHOTO BY LISA JAMES A well furnished camp at the Black Rascal Homeless Camp has recently changed hands after its owner moved on from the homeless life he lived for many years. April 10, 2010
SUN-STAR PHOTO BY LISA JAMES Shortly after moving to the Black Rascal Homeless Camp last Spring, Monica Villa, center, prays with church members from Valley Harvest Church in Merced. The church group, who visits the camp once a month, is one of many faith based groups who have been paying visits to the camps as all involved search for a solution. April 10, 2010
"Not all have homes, not all are into drugs and alcohol," the homeless advocate said Thursday. "Some have mental issues, emotional issues. They lost their jobs or can't find a job. They have no choice, some people just have had bad luck."
Beginning Aug. 9, the city began posting and distributing material and giving everybody notice, allowing the homeless to contact relatives and find alternative housing, according to Mike Conway, public information officer for the city. The week of Sept. 6, the city will again post more notices warning of the camp closures.
The closure date for the camps is Oct. 11.
"We wanted to make sure the ultimate goal is to move them out of there into some more kind of stable living arrangement," he said.
Many have lived at the Black Rascal Creek camp for months -- even years -- and now they wonder where they can go and how they can find jobs. Where will the 290s, or homeless sex offenders, wind up? They face restrictions placed on where they can come and go.
"Everybody's in denial; the city wants everyone to go away," Davenport said.
One City Council member said it's about living in a city where you have to abide by the social contract that everyone is a part of. "If that means no camping in open space because of an ordinance, it is something we have to do," said Josh Pedrozo. "We are not trying to punish or criminalize these people -- we are trying to help them change their lives for the better."
Councilman John Carlisle said the city is relying on the social services programs already in place for after the homeless move out of the camps. And he said the 290s are even more restricted.
"There are a lot of folks who have been pushing this thing about we have empty beds at the shelter last night or at the rescue mission, so obviously there are a lot of resources," Carlisle said. "That is not true. And the 290s can't go there."
Davenport, the advocate, added that even if people have made bad choices, that doesn't mean they'll continue to make them. "They've got plans for barrels but not the people," she said, referring to barrels made available at the police department to the homeless if they want to store their belongings for 90 days after the Oct. 11 date at the police department. "I call it the barrel plan -- but what about the people?"
On a blistering 100-degree day Thursday, a man who goes by "Pancho" stood outside his tent with a cell phone in hand. He said he's been at the camp for the past three or four months. Speaking in Spanish, he said he came from Texas, had family in the area, but isn't living with them because they had issues with him. "It would be good if they (the city) had a plan, what are they going to do if they don't have a plan?" he asked.
Pancho said he isn't a 290. He said he's a mechanic who travels from place to place, trying to make a little money here and there.
A little way down the road, Dorine Joiner, 51, has been living in a pristinely clean orange, gray and yellow tent for the past four months. The tent is organized, with two beds and a small portable TV in the corner. Photos of her family, candles and personal items are laid out on makeshift tables. She sits on her bed with her dog named Special as she talks about her boyfriend who left her a few days ago after he got off parole. She knows she has family to turn to -- her daughter -- but she doesn't want to stay with her.
She doesn't work, but she said she "doesn't mind working," adding she has worked in home services and at convalescent homes, or homelike environments for patients.
"I walk every day looking for work," she said.
A 24-year-old 290, who goes by "Smalls," has been living at the camp on and off since May 1. He said he has no clue where he will go, saying he does have family, but he can't live with them.
"I can pretty much do anything, like landscaping," he said. "I go to my stepmother's (in Atwater) and help out with her yard." He added he's been around mechanics his whole life and has laid cement in previous jobs.
He said he's the youngest at the camp, that there's a sense of community at the camp among the homeless people.
"We all look out for each other," he said.
Monica Villa, 55, also stressed the sense of camaraderie and community among the camp dwellers. Villa has been living at the camp for the past six months and has a cornucopia of vegetables and fruits growing around and behind her tent. She also offers a "guest cottage" or a second tent to passing people who need a place to stay for the night.
"They share stories about where they came from, what happened to them," she said. "We sit around and talk. I've been through my trials and tribulations, but there's always somebody out there who has it worse."
The coming months will tell where these people -- their belongings, tents and animals -- will go.
Reporter Ameera Butt can be reached at (209) 385-2477 or abutt@mercedsun-star.com.
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