Sadly, many of our nation’s big cities have an influx of homeless people. Lately, San Francisco has an uproar of problems concerning this issue. Near the end of 2022, Judge Donna Ryu made the injunction of not allowing organizations to clear homeless off the streets until shelters can provide enough beds for all homeless people in the area. However, many don’t agree with the injunction, including the Mayor of San Francisco.
According to NBC News, Mayor London Breed stood outside of a court hearing with the many organizations involved in the debate. She thanked the crowd of supporters for “…having courage to show up and fight for San Francisco. The Coalition of Homelessness has held the city hostage for decades.” She believes that the city is being taken advantage of and wants to stop it.
The Healthy Streets Operations Center also went around questioning homeless people. They talked with 2,344 people, and out of those 2,344 people, 1,065 accepted shelter. Meanwhile 1,278 declined shelter given by the city. There are many reasons why homeless people might not accept shelter, including lack of privacy, space, pets aren’t always allowed in shelters, and they cannot meet drug treatment requirements.
Senior Aliyeah Granberg says, “You can only help people if they’re willing to accept it. No matter how hard you try, no one will change if they don’t want to.”
Dr. Starling is one of our new social studies/current events teachers.
“The issue of homelessness is something that touches the life of every American. It appears that there is no clear answer to end homelessness in America as the variables surrounding this issue outnumber the possible solutions,” shares Starling.
The city has not yet made a decision on further action, but I believe that the homeless should be removed if they do not accept shelter. If they have the availability, there should be no reason for them to still be on the streets.
