The good news: Sacramento is ending homelessness! Not so good: They’re accomplishing this mission the same way George W. Bush “ended” the war in Iraq, with a media event and balloons. Last February, The Oprah Winfrey Show reported on the shameful “tent city” of homeless people living along Sacramento’s American River. According to the show’s initial report, and m (...)
Columnists
The End of Homelessness?
wishful thinking in sacramento
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People are homeless for a reason. Or many reasons. They have generally been beaten down, put down and let down throughout their life by everyone in society. They are resigned to bare survival and feel hopeless and abandoned. Unless they can be sheltered in a supervised and supportive framework, they will continue to drift into homelessness for the rest of their lives, which may be very much shortened. The cost of housing is relatively cheap. The cost of supportive services is our greatest challenge. However, in Sacramento and the State of California in general, every significant social service has been cut to the core. Social workers no longer do outreach, they simply review eligibility with an eye to disqualifying as many as possible. We and the church, with a few prophetic exceptions, simply turn a blind eye to these critical human needs. We and our politicians should be totally ashamed.