"The best thing I can say about this place is that it gives you a shelter," said Manuel, 71, a homeless veteran who declined to provide his last name. He thinks he was better off on his own. But, "they're doing their best," Manuel said about the encampment staff.
As cities in Central California enact stricter anti-encampment rules, Tulare leaders tout a more humane approach, with Mayor Terry Sayre calling it "probably the most progressive city in the county" when it comes to homelessness.
The progressive project has yielded some important successes, including reduced suicides and the consolidation of city, county and nonprofit services into one place, allowing for more efficient delivery of social services and medical services to the people who need them.
It's definitely tough living in the industrially-zoned area. There are rodents, signs of human addiction, lots of dogs roaming and plenty of complaints from the men and women who live there.
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