The Turlock City Council voted against spending a single dollar Tuesday night, and as a result the We Care homeless shelter could lose out on $267,000 in state funds.
Tangling with an item that was held over from the March 25 meeting, all the city had to do to secure those funds for We Care was to approve the spending of $1 as a token gesture, and write a letter of support. Instead, Mayor Amy Bublak, and councilmembers Rebecka Monez and Erika Phillips voted against the item, while councilmembers Cassandra Abram and Kevin Bixel voted in favor.
The $267,000 represents about half of We Care’s yearly operating budget. If not ironed before April 28, We Care could conceivably lose the money to the city of Modesto.
Monez believes that the negative impacts of the homeless issue — street cleanup, drug and alcohol abuse, public defecation/urination — need to be addressed before she can offer her support.
“Does my heart break for We Care and for the people they serve? Of course it does,” said Monez. “But our service providers want money, but nobody is doing anything about the negative impacts created by the homeless.”
We Care board member Greg Bava said he understands that position, but thinks it’s unfair to blame We Care for the negative impacts.
“I don’t see this as being our fault,” said Bava. “It’s a community issue; it’s not a We Care issue. So why would we be burdened with the full amount.”
Bava said that without these funds, it will be difficult for We Care to operate beyond 2026.
Stanislaus County District 2 Supervisor Vito Chiesa represented the county at the meeting.
“We’re going to continue to try to find a compromise,” said Chiesa. “We have until April 28 to work out something that’s amenable to both We Care and the city.”
In all, 19 different members of the public strode to the podium to offer input. All but two offered full-throated support for We Care and it’s mission. Among the highlights:
* Julie Fox, a former We Care board member, tore into the council.
“This is an abomination of leadership that this has gone on for as long as it has,” said Fox. “I am ashamed — ashamed — of what I see going on here. … I don’t know how you all sleep at night.”
“I just don’t understand what the problem is,” said Leslie Stokes “… If you’re going to be representing this city, then represent it well. I don’t care what side of the aisle you sit on. You’re supposed to take care of the city.”
* “We started because we felt the calling,” said Mary Borba, whose husband, Antonio Borba, also spoke. “We study the Bible and Jesus said repeatedly we are to feed the hungry and shelter the homeless. And that’s why we’re there. We spend one day a month cooking all day, making a home-cooked meal as if it were for our own family.”
*Jeff Woods, the founding executive director of Turlock Gospel Mission, described the key difference between housed and unhoused people.
“It’s a door,” said Woods, pointing out that housed persons can deal with their difficulties behind a closed door, while the struggles of unhoused citizens are on display for all to see. “My hope, knowing that there are not easy solutions, is that we can work together, that we could support one another. And for those that are willing to give of themselves — their time and their resources — that we would partner with them.”
