As a person who watches the news about homelessness every day, I can tell you without a doubt… homeless camps are becoming more common and homeless people are standing up for their rights more.
Covid is the common denominator. It has made America more difficult to live in as a low income person.
Salt Lake City homeless camp closed and cleaned up, but what’s changed? | KJZZ
The closure and abatement of the Rio Grande Street camp took place Thursday morning. Salt Lake County Health Department crews took away “15 dump trucks worth of abandoned items and debris” Thursday morning, a spokesman said. But just a few hours after that operation took place, the street was once again lined with people, supplies, and garbage.
State homeless camp catches fire early Friday where 100 people live | KXAN Austin
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The state-sponsored homeless camp in southeast Austin caught fire early Friday morning. The Austin Fire Department says four of 11 units there suffered damage but no one was hurt. AFD said the fire started around 4:20 a.m. Friday. They have not yet determined a cause, but the occupant of the area where the fire started said it was some sort of electrical fire.
Officials taking different approach to homeless encampment cleanups | Politics | tulsaworld.com
The people who spent hours in homeless encampments along Riverside Drive south of the River Spirit Casino on Thursday were there to clean up, not clean out. There is a big difference between the two. Becky Gligo, executive director of Housing Solutions, said the city, River Parks Authority and local social service agencies are taking a different approach to how they address homeless encampments. “I think what’s been great is that, in the past it’s been kind of like, they get reports, you clear it out,” Gligo said. “And now I think what folks are seeing is, you clear out an encampment, you are just leaving them a clean camp to come back to.
Avivo Village takes in the unsheltered homeless
In an effort to reduce the number of homeless in Minneapolis the temporary housing project Avivo Village, in partnership with the North Loop Association, opened its doors last month to nearly one hundred people experiencing homelessness. “We’re calling them tiny homes. They really are rooms,” said Emily Bastian, Avivo’s vice president of ending homelessness. “Something COVID-safe, something that they could know that their belongings are going to be secured.”
Deaths Among America’s Homeless Are Soaring in the Pandemic | Time
Ordered to shelter in place, people without shelter died at an alarming rate. In a bad year here, according to social workers from three charity organizations, two to four of the unhoused die. Over the past year, they have tallied 22 deaths, a sevenfold increase.
San Jose homeless sweeps create a revolving door – San José Spotlight
“We’ve been back here for over a year now,” Martinez told San José Spotlight. “I didn’t get homeless because of drugs or nothing. I got homeless because I messed up my back at my job.”
SLC mayor responds to concerns over ineffective homeless camp cleanup | KJZZ
“There are now 12 tents in place,” Hill wrote, asking why more police officers weren’t in the area enforcing the closure. “Basically less than 24 hours later we are in many ways back to where we started.”
Here’s what happened to homeless people cleared from Echo Park – Los Angeles Times
She ended up in a hotel room in Century City, expecting to stay for months. But now, with travel restrictions easing as COVID-19 cases continue to decline, the hotel is reopening, and homeless people, there under the government-funded program Project Roomkey, must leave.
“We ate better at Echo Park than we do at the hotel,” Wic added. “And I’m not even gonna lie.”
Brenda, another homeless resident of the park, said she was scared of the police, too. But instead of accepting an offer for a hotel or motel room, she decided to camp out in front of O’Farrell’s office for a few days. Since then, she said, she’s gone back to sleeping on other sidewalks, most of them not far from Echo Park.
But she and many of the others newly housed in hotels also spoke of the very real fear of being kicked out once again. They know Project Roomkey won’t last forever, and living in a room for a few weeks or months doesn’t feel like, as Bonin declared it, a “major achievement.”
Letter: The inside story of the homeless campground | Letters | theworldlink.com
I would like to clear up what I feel are misconceptions expressed in The World newspaper article of Tuesday, March 9, about the “Homeless Campground at Methodist Church.” It was an area where those who could not afford or find other housing could stay at and would be semi-safe. Each resident was interviewed by the minister – they were asked what their plan was to transition out of the camp. Rules were outlined and it was emphasized that if rules were broken, they would meet with the minister or the police or both, and, if necessary, they would have to leave – not to return.
Homeless camped outside city hall say they won’t leave
Dozens of people camping at city hall say they are not moving, despite receiving notice from security to leave the property. The front lawn of city hall is now surrounded by a plastic fence, which was installed by the campers Monday morning to prevent themselves from being removed.
Video shows California officer shoot homeless Black man – ABC News
DANVILLE, Calif. — A lawyer for the family of a homeless Black man who was fatally shot last month by a San Francisco Bay Area police officer said Tuesday that a video serves as evidence that the shooting was unjustified — a claim disputed by the police officer’s lawyer.