One A Day Occurrence: And We Are Not Talkin Vitamins

Can you imagine if there was an earthquake, or fire, or flood… and every day during the disaster one person died? It would be a national tragedy.

In actuality, this national tragedy is certainly occurring. Because in Los Angeles County, every day for the last seven years, a homeless person has died on the streets.

Some people think of homeless people as a nuisance, or a disgrace. But we don’t think of them dying on the streets. Yet the shame of our public policies and indifference of the typical public has ignored the fact that people who are homeless are at risk of dying.

I wish our mainstream society would take note of this sad fact. Something needs to compel our political and community leaders to truly invest the resources to end this national tragedy.

(Pic from www.quakers-in-ireland.ie)

Is Homelessness Increasing Or Decreasing?

We are getting mixed messages. The federal government is telling us that homelessness is decreasing in cities across America. One of those cities, they state, is San Francisco.

I was in SF this past week. I’ve never been hit up more by panhandlers and people living on the streets in my frequent travels there, than last week. It seemed like almost every street corner, there was someone sleeping or panhandling. My first hand encounters just go against the claims of politicians who say “it’s getting better.”

Here in Southern California, the politicians say that homelessness decreased from 90,000 two years ago to 73,000 this year. Has homeless really decreased in Los Angeles, when we have barely built enough housing or shelters for just a handful of people?

It is now being reported that a tent city is starting to be developed in the Inland Empire, an hour east of Los Angeles, filled with people who lost their homes. The Inland Empire is known for where Angelenos move to, when they can’t afford the high rents and housing prices of Los Angeles. Yet, the latest mortgage crisis has hit this area hard. So now the result is a tent city filled with the newly homeless.

Am I being just overly pessimistic, or overly realistic?

In the campaign year of 2008, I’m done listening to the political jargon of false hope. I’d rather see for myself whether homelessness is increasing or decreasing. Until we actually see with our very eyes a dramatic decrease of people living on our streets, I won’t fall for the claims that homelessness is decreasing.

Maybe this is my new year’s resolution.

(Pic from www.inspi.ufl.edu)