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Showing posts from August, 2024

Affordable Housing Now!

     I read a great article by  Cynthia Griffith  a freelance writer dedicated to social justice and environmental issues. The article is linked  here  for your reference. In this article Cynthia discusses the framing of the homeless problem when discussed by politicians. She cites a few specific examples in her article which I encourage you to read. I will discuss more societal misconceptions and how politicians and other government officials contribute to the disconnect in this post.       Far too often when discussing homelessness political leaders seek to blame the people impacted rather than the true problem which is a lack of affordable housing. Crime is a societal problem and occurs when there is a lack of opportunity and resources. Drug use is a mental health issue which has been around for many years but is more prevalent and visible in communities due to the housing crisis. By trying to associate homeless people with crime and drug use it enables politicians to dodge accounta

Stop the Sweeps

     Aggressive homeless encampment sweeps have begun in Califronia on the backs of the Supreme Court ruling and Governor Newsom's executive order. In the YouTube video linked below at the 2 minute mark the Mayor of San Francisco discusses her plan for the sweeps, quoted below.  "This is not just about cleaning and clearing because these are people and they gotta go somewhere but we are going to make them so uncomfortable on the streets of San Francisco that they have to take our offer. That really is the goal of what we are trying to accomplish"       If you are a fan of Game of Thrones you will recognize this quote from Jon Snow "everything before the word but is horseshit." I don't know if you have spent times on the streets of San Francisco or not but I wouldn't use the word comfortable to describe them. It is evident to me that this approach, intentionally trying to make a vulnerable population of people more uncomfortable is inhumane. It seems like