pamphlet
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caCivicEngagemen-Research-12.docxProblem: Homelessness in San Francisco, California
Some of the expected benefits of civic engagement include building a sense of community among people working together to make a positive change in their society. Some of the common issues in a community that calls for civil engagement range from environmental pollution, which is a primary issue in urban communities, homelessness due to high real estate rates, drug and substance abuse and even mental illnesses. The others are the development of community schools and healthcare centers. In dry and semi-arid areas, the people come together to dig boreholes or dams into solving the issue of water shortage that, if not addressed, could result in issues of sanitation.
Article one:
Homelessness is attributed to many health conditions, primarily because the conditions on the streets or even the shelters are characterized by poor sanitation, limited resources, violence and even sexual violence. Most homeless persons have a mental illness, mixed substance abuse, and sexually related conditions such as HIV/AIDs and even airborne diseases such as tuberculosis. All these issues result from a lack of access to proper sanitation, healthcare services, adequate food and formal employment Thus, most end up succumbing to the conditions, and the cycle repeats itself. In other cases, even the homeless shelters developed by the government, the community or non-governmental organizations usually have a shortage of resources such as water, thus becoming an issue as a large number of people share such spaces.
The other common illnesses prevalent in this group include liver diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease, schizophrenia, and others. Without intervention through actions such as civic engagement, the issue will continue to spread and affect more people. It's not a problem for only urban planners or the homeless themselves but also the community that should team and help one another.
Article two:
The homeless situation in San Francisco has gotten so dire that residents are being requested to accommodate the homeless persons near them in their homes. In typical situations, people ought to be skeptical to house strangers in their homes, especially if these strangers are homeless people who are mostly drug addicts and mentally ill persons. Further , the mayor of Richmond, set up a program that aims to match the homeless people with the local landlords. To encourage the landlords to overlook some of the required procedures, such as checking the previous track records, employment, and credit status
Getting to the root of the issue would mean looking into why the population of this group keeps growing despite the efforts made, such as building shelters for them. The bottom line is that as long as the number of drug addicts and persons with mental illnesses due to either too much stress from life or simply genetic issues keeps rising, this group will keep growing; thus, any efforts made will only be temporary fixes.
Article Three:
In this article, it tells me why homelessness becomes homeless. “We are not just numbers. We’re persons." By Tracey Lien is a good opening for the article centered on the homeless situation in San Francisco, which is one of the cities in America with the highest income inequality. According to the article, persons making up the homeless in the city are not just drug addicts and mentally ill persons but ironically people in suits and carrying iPhones in full-time jobs whose income is so low that they cannot afford the rent of housing in the city.
As of 2013, the statistics were at 6,436, excluding homeless people living out of their cars, living with friends, or those drifting between transitional housing arrangements. The situation in the city in terms of real estate rates and income disparities between the wealthy and the poor is so dire that working people are considered homeless. San Francisco is fast-changing, and this change involves enormous income disparities, with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. Statistics show that the annual income of the wealthy in the city is roughly $350 000 at the least, while on the lower end, the low-income households earn an annual income of about $20000. Worse enough, between 2007 and 2012, the income for the wealthy rose by $28 000 while that of the lower-income households declined by $4 000. This is a clear indication of how worse the homeless situation has gotten over the years.
References
Article 1: Top 7 Health Problems of the Homeless
https://www.mercyhousing.org/2020/08/top-7-health-problems-of-the-homeless/
Article 2: Homelessness in the San Francisco Bay Area is now so bad residents are being asked to house a homeless person in their OWN HOMES: Politicians and charities claim locals want to be part of the solution
Article 3: Inside San Francisco’s housing crisis. https://www.vox.com/a/homeless-san-francisco-tech-boom
