Shanty residents await eviction

Residents of a small camp made up of plywood shacks have been warned their meager homes will be torn down, but when the evictions will happen is anyone’s guess.

A notice posted in the camp north of Mendota said Fresno County had ordered removal to begin at 6:01 a.m. on Wednesday. But as of Thursday afternoon, the shacks that are home to about 50 people remained standing.

Moses Macias, a minister at Mendota Pentecostal Church of God, said residents worry the work may begin unexpectedly, when reporters and visitors are not around to watch.

“They’re all scared, but they’re thankful for today. A lot of these people have clean records so they can’t just kick them out,” Macias said Wednesday, after spending several hours at the camp in anticipation of the arrival of Fresno County sheriff’s deputies.

“They have threatened them several times with this eviction,” he said.

The camp rose up at least five years ago in a dried-out ditch on land owned by the Westlands Water District, with residents creating shanties from scavenged wood and supplies. Many survive by finding day jobs with local farms and contractors. But with drought hurting crop production, jobs have been hard to find.

On Wednesday, one man who would only give his first name, Daniel, rose in the frigid 39-degree morning air and struggled to move his bicycle over a pocked dirt road. He towed a cart loaded with metal scraps.

“There’s a few people still here,” he stopped to say. “I need to get this to the recycler because the sheriff said they would be here between 6 and 7.”

Since Vida en el Valle first reported on the camp in October, donors have stepped forward to help the residents, providing money, food and water.

Clinica Sierra Vista of Fresno offered medical care to the residents, including 50-year-old Mexican immigrant Martin Hernandez, a day laborer whose hand was infected after he injured it working on a shack in the camp.

According to Ruben Chavez, chief administrative officer for Clinica Sierra Vista, the inhabitants were given the opportunity to register with Covered California, Medi-Cal and other social services.

Maria Louisa Daniels, who has lived in the camp since February after the apartment she rented in Firebaugh was demolished, worries about what will become of her poodle and three puppies if she has to go elsewhere.

“I do want to leave here,” Daniels said. “It’s hard living here. I need to look to the future.”

Daniels said she’ll likely move to the Poverello House, a homeless shelter in Fresno.

A woman who would give only her first name, Eliza, said she’ll find another place to set up a home and worries little about the colder weather ahead.

“I never wanted any help. A lot of people think I’m crazy. I’ve lived in canals before and nobody has ever told me anything,” said Eliza, who said she has three children living in Los Angeles, one in Chicago and two in Mexico.

A woman who gave her name only as Diana said the women who live in the camp work together to protect one another, such as by tearing down vacant shelters before drug addicts have a chance to move in.

“We’re not bothering anybody. We’re over here by ourselves,” she said. “Why don’t they provide us with some temporary shelter?”

Mendota Mayor Robert Silva has said that because the camp sits outside city limits, little can be done to help residents aside from the donations made by groups and churches.

This story was originally published November 19, 2015 at 6:44 PM with the headline "Shanty residents await eviction."