30 Nights with the Martinez/Pacheco Homeless Outreach

Day 18

8:20 p.m.: The first stop I made tonight was at the Shell station on Alhambra Avenue. There was a guy there that was clearly high on something. He explained to me that he was a meth addict and wanted help; I couldn't get him services today but I set up a meeting with him in the morning to get him some help. I hope he shows .

Then I went up on the hill behind the hospital; there were a couple of people up there. They didn't want anything so I just asked them to keep it clean. I didn't want to spend a lot of time on that hill — it was super muddy and wet.

Then I headed to Amtrak, where there were two inmates that needed a ride to BART, so I asked them to wait until I was done around Amtrak. For the last couple of weeks there has been a camper in front of the Chamber of Commerce — it has been in the same spot for over a week, then the police tagged him and he moved over a few spots. We really need to get an ordinance to prevent these guys from camping in RVs downtown. There was another on Pine Street and another just off Marina Vista. Plus all the people in cars at Amtrak and around town — it's a lot to deal with at night.

Then I waded through the Marina; no one out in the park tonight. Then I went around to some of the vacant homes around town and handed out some supplies. I found six people at these homes. Then I stopped in at Rankin Park; I found one guy there who was interested in shelter so I told I would get him tomorrow maybe and set up a time to meet. Then I went down to 500 Court St. and found one of the city's chronic alcoholics, maybe the worst I've ever seen and I've seen a lot. He was shaky but not too bad yet, but it will get worse throughout the night for him. I saw 12 people tonight in Martinez so it was productive. Now it's off to Pleasant Hill.