Her Job is to Remove Homeless People from SF’s Parks. Her Methods are Extraordinary

For The San Francisco Standard, Journalist Susan Freinkel spent two years following park ranger Amanda Barrows as Barrows did outreach, connecting one on one with people living rough in Golden Gate Park. At one time, Barrows herself had spent five years without a fixed address, and while she might get the headline, Freinkel firmly centers Kevin Horton and Ronnie Morrisette, two men who made the park their home for different reasons. In a piece reported with deep care, Freinkel shows how Barrows “offered help in small doses” to get to know each man and understand why they’ve resisted almost all attempts to get them out of the open and into a more comfortable living situation.

Kaine, whose real name is Kevin Horton, settled into the woods surrounding Hellman Hollow.

It was a semi-wild way of life. While most of his food came from Safeway, he occasionally caught fish in Metson Lake to grill, or made stew from raccoons or squirrels caught by Honey. He used the park’s restrooms when they were open and kept a bucket by his tent for when they weren’t.

He was sometimes friendly and chatty, sometimes ranty. And he was always deeply protective of the meadow, alerting the gardeners to trees that needed trimming or warning parents to keep their kids away from the poisonous hemlock on the hillsides. Late one night, he discovered a naked woman sitting on the curb. He gave her a sweatshirt, let her sleep in his tent while he slept outside, and, in the morning, went to the police at the horse stables so they could call her parents. In turn, many who played in the meadow looked after him, sharing food from picnics and barbecues.