A homeless encampment is disturbing the peace at a Cambodian Buddhist temple in Fresno, with vagrants leaving behind drug paraphernalia and leaving congregants uneasy.<\/p>\n
The Fresno Cambodian Buddhist Society Inc. reluctantly welcomed its new neighbor \u2014 a small pocket of the city\u2019s estimated 5,000 homeless population \u2014 during the winter. <\/p>\n
A homeless encampment is growing along a wall near a Cambodian Buddhist temple in Fresno, California. ABC30<\/p>\n
Members of the temple told ABC 30<\/a> that they\u2019ve had issues with homeless vagrants wandering into their house of worship before, but have never seen anything like the growing camp stretching along its walls.<\/p>\n Danny Kim, a member on the society\u2019s board, told the outlet that they once caught someone pitching a tent inside the dining hall after hours, while other strangers have left \u201cneedles, paraphernalia, [and] glass pipes\u201d scattered around. <\/p>\n The growing encampment is near the Fresno Cambodian Buddhist Society Inc. Google<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t want our community to feel unsafe coming over here and also creating a health hazard for children that might be playing over here,\u201d Kim said.<\/p>\n The temple and its worshippers have endeavored to treat the homeless with compassion and respect in alignment with their faith\u2019s teachings, but are struggling to balance their charity with growing safety concerns.<\/p>\n There\u2019s little the temple can actually do to address the encampment, since it falls within an adjacent private property. The area itself falls in District 1 \u2014 helmed by councilmember Annalisa Perea.<\/p>\n Perea told the outlet that she wasn\u2019t aware of any encampments within the city limits, but her team dispatched city code enforcement and homeless outreach teams \u201cto see what we could do to be a good partner with the county.\u201d<\/p>\n Members of the temple said the encampment is growing. ABC30<\/p>\n She assured that the city was trying to get in touch with the property\u2019s owner, but hadn\u2019t received a response as of Thursday.<\/p>\n The Post reached out to Perea\u2019s office and the County of Fresno\u2019s Homeless Response Group for more information.<\/p>\n The temple is separately seeking help and support from the county\u2019s plentiful homelessness organizations, the outlet reported.<\/p>\n There are an estimated 5,000 homeless people in Fresno. ABC30<\/p>\n Gov. Gavin Newsom has consistently downplayed<\/a> the severity of the Golden State\u2019s homelessness epidemic. In early January, he boasted about a 9% decline \u2014 but the LAPD alone is still responding to roughly 40 calls an hour relating to the homeless<\/a>.<\/p>\n One swanky Santa Monica restaurant temporarily shuttered its doors for health code violations<\/a>, but critics suggested the vermin might\u2019ve migrated from the homeless encampment next door. <\/p>\n