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     People in  Evanston  who are homeless won't have any choice but to camp or try to get to a different part of the area where beds are available with Interfaith Action of Evanston's shelter program ending for the year. Many people may also turn to the public transit system to attempt to get some rest. When riding on the CTA buses and trains during college, I often encountered a homeless person sleeping. No one should be forced to sleep on a train or a bus as thousands of people use them daily. It is not safe, as some people harass and abuse homeless people, which is an awful site. I believe society's role is to support and empower individuals who cannot care for themselves. Yet our capitalistic society only values people if they can generate a profit for someone else. Many non-profits and church organizations are working to support people who are homeless, but it will require the entire community to get involved to solve the problem. We need to work with loca...

     Whenever I am looking for an article or a news story to write about for my weekly blog, there is always a supply out there. What I am always shocked by is the number of people who exclusively blame the people impacted by homelessness. This is the  article  I read this week, and there are many quotes from residents and business owners who claim to feel "empathy." Still, they are more concerned with how the homeless population is affecting them, their business, and their customers.     P eople experiencing homelessness are not the problem. The problem is we live in a society where stray dogs and cats receive more compassion and resources than people battling mental health or addiction.  The United States GDP is the largest in the world by  Ten Trillion dollars,  over 2nd highest nation's GDP (China), and is more than the 3rd-10th nations' GDP  combined.   With this wealth and resources, there is no reason why everyone living...

 Hostile Architecture is not a solution.      I was reading a News article from KTLA discussing how business owners were taking measures into their own hands by installing planters on the sidewalk to deter homeless encampments. LA has the 2nd highest amount of people impacted by homelessness in the US, with the most recent figures estimating over 75,000 people are homeless there. While I understand that having a bunch of tents set up in front of the business isn't ideal for the business owners or customers, installing planters isn't helping, nor is it a solution. Using hostile architecture to purposefully guide behavior is familiar to urban design. This style of architecture is designed to impact people who rely more heavily on public spaces, like people affected by homelessness. Think about any time you have been at a park and saw a bench with an armrest in the middle. Think of concrete ledges that are sloped or that have metal studs to prevent people from resting ...

 Biking from Sacramento to San Diego     Writing that title feels like a lot, but that is my plan.  According to HUD data , biking this route will allow me to stop in 6 of the 10 cities with the highest homeless population in the country . According to Google Maps, this route will take me 67 hours to ride and will cover 753 miles.  I will ride 50-100 miles daily and plan to knock the trip out in 10 days. This timeline allows me to prepare some rest days and account for a day or two with inclement weather.      One of the trip's main goals is to highlight what it is like to be a person who is homeless in this country. I will do this by interviewing as many homeless people as possible who would like to have an opportunity to tell their stories. Understanding how easy it can be to end up on the street is vital. According to a survey by payroll.org in 2023, 78% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. That's over a quarter of a billion people, Billion...