News » Top Video

Homeless In Fresno: 24 Hours On The Streets

By KSEE News
February 29, 2012 Updated Feb 29, 2012 at 11:08 PM PDT

Fresno has one of the highest concentrations of homeless in the state. There are stories of struggle, despair, even hope. We get a glimpse into what it means to be homeless in Fresno.
We started out early morning. We met up with Terry Jacobs who was keeping warm by a fire.
"I mean it gets cold out here two-three clock in the morning, man. Real cold!" said Jacobs. Jacobs is far from home. He was raised in Texas and is a Cowboys fan. He's been homeless for three years.
"My only option is homeless. Until some miracle happen. Something that will take me from this mess," said Jacobs.
Jacobs calls where he lives 'the jungle'. About two blocks away is the village where the homeless are on strict rules including a curfew. No drugs or alcohol are allowed on the property. We caught up with one man who was reading the paper.
"Just try to kill time as much as possible. Sometimes it's hard and sometimes it ain't you know," said one homeless man. Nearby him there were a few gathered around to watch an old western. These are just some of the activities we found that night at the village.
"A lot of people think we're the scum of the earth. They think we're all drug addicts, drunks and hoodlums. But that's not true,"said one homeless man.
"If we get a sniff of something going wrong...it's stopped immediately," said security guard Michael Hertzig about the villages.
There were much darker places than the village. We ended up spending the night near an on-ramp that was closed down. Watch the video to see all of our interviews with the homeless we met. We learned they all have stories. All are of some form of tragedy but see how some are inspiring hope.