Newsom Orders California Officials to Remove Homeless Encampments

Many of us have driven downtown, looked out our car windows, seen a homeless person on the street and said, "I feel sorry for that guy" before driving off. Some of us have said, "I really wish I could help him out", but only a few of us actually do. After a Supreme Court Ruling banning homeless residents from sleeping outdoors, California governor Gavin Newsom has made the push to completely purge the streets of homeless encampments, but where will the 200,000 homeless residents go? As California has one of the most expensive housing markets in our nation, emergency housing is few and far between, and while Newson's order connects encampment occupants with service providers, it fails to relocate the homeless with actual shelters. Newsom's order does not actually solve California's homeless crisis, but instead sweeps it under the carpet for it to rot. One way Newsom could solve this dilemma is to follow New York's model and guarantee a right to housing, effectively slowing the rate of homelessness. Subsidized housing tandem with subsidies to qualifying homeless people could even permanently stop homelessness. However, this is not only the government's problem, but one for us as well. Anyone can help against homelessness, even if that means donating canned goods or a blanket, and if I can do it, so can you. Be the reason why you'll never say,"I feel sorry for that guy" ever again.

Hello blog. This was my response to the New York Times week 8 summer reading challenge. I have 2 weeks left to complete my AP computer science class and I can't start on my remaining assignments because my teacher hasn't graded my old assignments so I am on a time crunch which is stressing me out.