Police Invade Nations Largest Houseless Camp With Clubs, Knives -- Serve 3-Day Eviction Notice Police and city officials swept through the mile-square site, without notice, smashing down plywood doors and cutting open tents. The common crime of the inhabitants? Having no other place to go. But this is Silicon Valley, and it brings down the tone of the area... The encampment is in stark contrast to its surrounding area in the heart of the Silicon Valley, a region leading the country for job growth, income, innovation and venture capital. Tech giants Google, Apple, Yahoo, eBay, Facebook, Intel and many more call the 1,850 square mile stretch of business parks, small cities and suburbs south of San Francisco home. But as tech roars back from the recession, housing costs have soared and more than 5000 now people sleep outside in streets, parks and under freeways there. When The Jungle is cleared later this week, city officials plan to send in trash trucks and bulldozers to haul out tons of hazardous and human waste. Theyll use heavy machinery to fill excavated sections where people have been living underground. And theyll try to restore the creek beds. Jennifer Loving, executive director of Destination: Home who has been working to house homeless people in the area, toured the camp last week warning residents they had to get out. But in a parking lot about 20 feet up a hill above The Jungle she sighed and shook her head. Theres nowhere for them to go, she said. We dont have the housing. We cant magically create it. sacbee/news/business/article4225041.html Attempts are being made to find housing for people from The Jungle. It makes economic sense, apart from being the right thing to do. When it works, it means a new life. But it takes time. Meanwhile, for others, The Jungle is all there is. Jennifer Loving, executive director of the nonprofit housing agency Destination: Home, is spearheading a new, concerted effort in San Jose to house people and keep them housed, not just out of compassion, but to save money. A homeless person can cost an estimated $60,000 a year, including trips to the emergency room and jail. The cost of housing someone can be just $16,000 a year. In a 24-month pilot, they’ve housed 630 people, 76 percent of whom were still in their homes a year after moving in. One man, an amputee who had been sleeping in a creek bed, stopped making his near-daily trips to the emergency room. New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta have seen similar success with Housing First initiatives. pressherald/2014/07/06/program-in-silicon-valley-lifts-some-longtime-destitute-out-of-the-jungle/ Photo Credit: AP/Marcio Jose Sanchez ~gw/#OccupySeattle
Posted on: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 23:00:52 +0000
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