The number of homeless residents is rapidly growing, so much so, that it is outpacing all solutions put forth to end it. It is well known that, within Santa Clara County, for every homeless person housed, three more become homeless. I’m afraid that number is likely increasing due to the aftereffects of the pandemic. And...
Eckhart: People with lived experience can help end homelessness
You may have noticed that I have been away for a short period. And during my time away recovering from a mishap, I was able to take a little time to look at how we as a community act toward the homeless population. I recognize some neighborhoods reach out and I’ve seen groups of people...
Shaw: No one chooses to be homeless in Silicon Valley
There’s nothing good about being homeless. It’s a hard and exhausting way to live. Most people aren’t able to imagine what living on the streets is like. Lately there’s been an uptick in the number of clients residing at the Sunnyvale shelter, as solutions to the pandemic increase. I’ve seen individuals come in from hospitals,...
Martin: Coming to terms with mental illness, addiction, homelessness
Mental illness is not always hereditary. It’s usually a combination of genetic changes and environmental factors that determines if someone will develop a disorder — and this is true for homeless people. Research and cellular biology has shown that about 5% of diseases are genetically determined, whereas the remaining 95% are environmentally based. This makes...
Ponciano: The homeless and recently unhoused just want — and deserve — to be seen as people
In my experience, community organizers, activists and entry-level employees of community-based organizations age like dogs. I’ve been all three, and I feel like a modern-day Methuselah just five short years later. In my time here, I’ve shared in the joy of significant policy wins. I’ve marveled at the absurdity of the inequity in our community....
Eckhart: Second Street Studios one year later: What has changed?
It has been more than one year since the first tenants, including me, moved into the county’s first permanent supportive housing project, Second Street Studios in downtown San Jose. What has changed? I can answer that in three words: Not a thing. Let me start at the beginning. On May 7, 2019, we got keys...
Shaw: Santa Clara County needs sober shelters
This summer, I was fortunate to be chosen to be on the Unhoused Task Force, whose purpose is to formulate emergency solutions to aid with the homeless crisis Santa Clara County is facing. Improving the quality of life for individuals who are living unsheltered — those in encampments, on the street, in parks, under freeways,...
Betts: Art and commentary from life on the street
Through my art, I hope to make people aware of the extreme inequality in our region and their inability to put themselves in the shoes of struggling people. Our society is very judgmental and cruel to poor people. Upper-class people are so dismissive of poor and uneducated people. When they want to help, they often...
Eckhart: The painful path to homelessness
I was asked to write a short story about my experience in the military and then take that experience and write a quick couple of paragraphs on my experience as a homeless vet. I can’t do that easily because we are talking about two different times in my life. I went into the military right...
Shaw: What it feels like to be a Black man in America
When I was asked to share what I call my Black Lives Matter experience, I was divided within myself. It is difficult to write about an experience in your past when it brings back so many different emotions. Feelings of helplessness, shame, regret, fear and hopelessness. It took me back to a time when I...