Despite spending the majority of its funding to assist the homeless, California continues to face an uphill battle, making it the state with one of the biggest populations of homeless individuals. They’ve also additionally allocated billions of dollars.
The state didn’t have an initial plan to combat homelessness until 2018.
Senior Counselor Jason Elliot admits that simply paying for their rent isn’t enough since some face health challenges. They’ve spent many to transform commercial buildings into low-income housing, but they aren’t clearly enough.
He adds that building more affordable housing can help to reduce the issue of homelessness. This problem continued to worsen at the peak of wildfires and COVID-10, prompting Dr. Margot Kushel collaborated with Elliot to make a plan to help the homeless to fight off the pandemic.
Other Plans For The Issue
She also wrote a report to dismiss myths, concluding in several homeless people wanting permanent housing, many Californians losing their homes, and homeless respondents reporting that they’re currently suffering from mental health conditions.
Kushel says that poverty is a driving force for homelessness, simply handling their mental health conditions isn’t enough either – mentioning that paying for rent is very expensive. Elliot expresses frustration for the community’s lack of care in building affordable housing
Kushel mentions that state officials have heard and examined her report, and seems onboard with her recommendations, although she notes that she doesn’t necessarily agree with everything but puts her trust in them.
She hopes that everyone agrees to a single-minded focus to truly eliminate the issue. She doesn’t point out what she doesn’t agree with.
Both Elliot and Kushel agree that some care more about people being off the streets rather than giving them a permanent home. He adds that the federal government needs to be involved to provide needed housing vouchers for the homeless.
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Source: CNN
