Dispatches from the War Zone

Book excerpt: Exposing the social and political landscape of homelessness in Fresno, Dispatches from the War Zone offers the reader a rare opportunity to understand this issue from the perspective of the homeless, their allies and an investigative journalist who closely followed this story for more than 10 years. What at first appeared to be builders and developers working with Fresno City Hall and the police to move the homeless to more remote areas of town turns into something else entirely. We find government corruption, a class action lawsuit against the city for its unconstitutional attacks against the homeless and the suspicious death of Pamela Kincaid, the lead plaintiff in the legal action. Originally, it was the federal government's de-funding of affordable housing in the early 1980s that led to today's homeless crisis. The book examines those structural reasons for homelessness but also looks at what grassroots groups in Fresno, working on alternatives, have accomplished. Although the end to homelessness has been elusive for those groups doing business as usual, the paradigm shifts this book suggests give new hope that a better world is possible. There is a pathway to ending homelessness and treating all people with the dignity and respect they deserve.