This homeless camp is easy to fix

MENDOTA Martin Hernandez had an apartment in this western Fresno County city for a dozen years until the drought dried up steady work in the fields and he couldn’t pay the rent. For the past year, Hernandez has lived in an encampment of shacks along a dry ditch just north of the city. “It’s hardest in the winter, when it’s cold,” he says of staying in his hut-like home. 

Hernandez, a tree pruner, is one of the newer inhabitants of the homeless camp, which sprang up about seven years ago. In the early days, about a dozen or so people set up residence. In the past two years, the number has mushroomed to 50 – by one estimate – and the camp has taken on the appearance of a shanty town, with people entrenched within its plywood walls. Hernandez has helped build or repair several of the structures that stretch like a rundown motel row for about the length of a half-block. The tarp-covered roofs of the shanties jut out of the dirt to catch the eye of drivers on Highway 33, the road between Mendota and Firebaugh.The shacks have caught the attention of government officials, too. A year ago, the Fresno County public works department, citing building code and other safety violations, ordered Westlands Water District to dismantle the camp, which is on the district’s property.

There is no potable water. Most of the people ride bicycles into Mendota to buy bottled water. If they have family nearby, they catch an occasional shower. And some risk bathing in a nearby irrigation canal. “There is nothing safe about that situation out there,” says Johnny Amaral, deputy general manager for external affairs at Westlands. The conditions are like those seen in developing countries, not in the United States, he says. 

They need two by fours, hammers, sheet rock.  They need to learn about simple sewage systems made for cheap.  And for potable water, why not get a donated tank and fill it every few days?