From her M Street Navigation Center vantage point inside Kern County’s newest campsite, Laurie Hughey watched for several weeks as a homeless man dutifully swept the portion of the sidewalk where he sleeps, next to Weill Park, which is occasionally used as an unofficial campsite.

As tents, restrooms and sanitation stations went up just behind the shelter on a seldom-used avenue, the man’s curiosity grew, his approach to the site more confident.