NOTE FROM THE LECTURER DAWN TROOK: Writing 10 is a required freshman composition class at UC Merced, one that causes many groans. During Spring semester I had my students perform community-engaged research. My goals were to connect students with the city of Merced and to encourage them to see their writing as impacting and reaching an audience beyond the classroom. The Downtown Project started when I took my morning section on a downtown tour. One of the most striking things we realized was how many helping agencies are located within this shopping district. These students' essays celebrate the diversity and persistence of this locale.

Words by Beatriz Soltero

There is an old man who walks with a limp to stand by a stop light on Snelling highway, he holds up a sign that says “homeless.” It is a sign that I have seen one too many times around Merced. It doesn’t matter if you are downtown, at the mall, heading towards the freeway, or just roaming the streets of Merced, you are bound to encounter someone who is homeless. Merced is a city that has an unemployment rate higher than the national average so maybe it is not so surprising to see homeless in all areas. There is even a place on the outskirts of the city where many of the homeless seen around town live in tents. Even if it may seem that their situation is hopeless there is help; there are organizations dedicated to providing relief, such as shelters run by churches and non-profit organizations.

The homeless man that I’m most familiar is the one that stands at the corner of the stop light. Whenever I drive by, and sometimes there is a long line to get to my turn to pass, I watch the man and the people around. He walks from the corner and back down the road while he holds up his “Homeless” sign. From watching him day after day, I noticed that the man doesn’t get many donations from people. On one rare occasion when I was carrying change, I handed over to him the little I had because I knew he needed it more than I did. The small amount of money that I was able to give him was probably not much, but it was something. My observations led me to conclude that most of the help he must be getting comes from other sources.

Information about the organizations that can help a man like the one by the stop light can be found on the internet, or by a few phone calls to the offices of those who run the programs that provide help to those in need. Through internet research I found out that there is a particular shelter in Merced that is run by Community Action Agency. They receive federal grants and donations from generous individuals and are able to open shelters from 4pm to 7am every day of the year. What I could find out through such methods was very general information, such as the information I have provided. I wasn’t satisfied with that, and I wanted to get to know the individuals who were in the programs. It didn’t matter if they were the helpers or the ones being helped, I wanted more specifics. The new plan was to head to the streets of Merced and have some one on one conversations with whoever would be willing to be interviewed.

With my new plan, I was hoping to get more information about the people who are homeless and hear about their experiences on the streets and about how much do these people really benefit from the shelters that offer food and a place to stay the night. I spent several days going downtown to look for someone to talk to. My first attempt at talking to a homeless man was a failed attempt. A male friend of mine decided to accompany me in my search for an interviewee for safety reasons. I’m a short ninety pound girl who can easily be physically overpowered. My friend stayed a few feet behind while I followed an older homeless man in downtown, I was so caught up in trying to talk to him that I didn’t notice where I was exactly.

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