homelessness

On Nov. 3, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he will bring together local leaders in mid-November to review the state’s current approach to homelessness and identify new strategies to mitigate California’s growing unhoused population.

In evaluating the origin and consequences of gentrification and the housing crisis in Berkeley, we can look to the history of the city’s exclusionary and racist housing policies. 

In simpler terms, we must change society's current mindset that housing equals capital while poverty equals criminality.

“Every time a tenant moves out, the landlords can raise the rent or whatever they want,” Berkeley’s Rent Stabilization Board chair Leah Simon-Weisberg said. “Ever since then, it just goes up and up.”

We have a criminal-legal system that continues to prioritize incarceration over care in the community for those struggling with mental illness, drug addiction and homelessness. 

People experiencing homelessness in Berkeley continue to be affected by water insecurity and encampment sweeps.

If you are constantly wondering where your next meal will come from, how can you be expected to think about an essay due tomorrow?

We can’t turn our backs on our neighbors anymore. We must take action to ensure our city is able to provide for the most vulnerable.

Policymakers must accept the leadership of impacted people. Good intentions will never be enough if they are coupled with elitism.

This moment should be a call to face the crisis of homelessness — in the blink of an eye, the pandemic created the political urgency necessary to do so.