Page 7 - ARUBA TODAY

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U.S. NEWS Thursday 7 december 2017

American Living:
For the first time in 7 years, there are more homeless in US

By CHRIS WEBER 55,000 people, up by more
GEOFF MULVIHILL than 13,000 from 2016. Four
Associated Press out of every five homeless
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The individuals there are con-
nation’s homeless popula- sidered unsheltered, leav-
tion increased this year for ing tens of thousands of
the first time since 2010, people with no place to
driven by a surge in the sleep other than the streets
number of people living on or parks.
the streets in Los Angeles By comparison, while New
and other West Coast cit- York City’s homeless popu-
ies. lation grew to more than
The U.S. Department of 76,000, only about 5 per-
Housing and Urban Devel- cent are considered un-
opment released its an- sheltered thanks to a system
nual Point in Time count that can get people a cot
Wednesday, a report that under a roof immediately.
showed nearly 554,000 In the West Coast states,
homeless people across the surge in homelessness
the country during local has become part of the
tallies conducted in Janu- fabric of daily life. The Mon-
ary. That figure is up nearly ty, a bar in the Westlake
1 percent from 2016. neighborhood near down-
Of that total, 193,000 town Los Angeles, usually
people had no access to Homeless people wait in line for a meal served by a community organization outside Our Lady doesn’t open until 8 p.m.
Queen of Angels Catholic Church Thursday, Sept. 21, 2017, in Los Angeles. A homeless crisis of
nightly shelter and instead unprecedented proportions is rocking the West Coast, and its victims are being left behind by the Partner and general man-
were staying in vehicles, very things that mark the region’s success: soaring housing costs, rock-bottom vacancy rates and ager Corey Allen said that’s
tents, the streets and other a roaring economy that waits for no one. because a nearby shelter
places considered unin- (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) requires people staying
habitable. The unsheltered on the streets. freeways and rivers; local in October. there to be in the building
figure is up by more than 9 “A lot of people in America governments struggling to The HUD report underscores by 7. Waiting until after that
percent compared to two don’t realize they might be come up with money for the severity of the problem to open means the streets
years ago. two checks, three checks, long-term solutions; con- along the West Coast. outside are calmer. Allen
Increases are higher in four checks away from be- flicts over whether to crack While the overall homeless said the homeless have
several West Coast cit- ing homeless,” said Thomas down on street camp- population in California, come into his bar to bathe
ies, where the explosion in Butler Jr., who stays in a ing and even feeding the Oregon and Washington in the restroom wash ba-
homelessness has prompt- carefully organized tent homeless. grew by 14 percent over sins, and employees have
ed at least 10 city and near a freeway ramp in The most alarming con- the past two years, the part developed a strategy for
county governments to de- downtown Los Angeles. sequence of the West of that population consid- stopping people from com-
clare states of emergency Butler said he was in tran- Coast homeless explo- ered unsheltered climbed ing in to panhandle among
since 2015. sitional housing — a type sion is a deadly hepatitis 23 percent to 108,000. That customers. Seventy-eight-
City officials, homeless ad- of program that prepares A outbreak that has af- is in part due a shortage of year-old Theodore Neu-
vocates and those living on people for permanent fected Los Angeles, Santa affordable housing. bauer sees the other side of
the streets point to a main homes — for a while but Cruz and San Diego, the In booming Seattle, for it. Neubauer says he served
culprit: the region’s boom- mostly has lived on the popular tourist destination example, the HUD report in Vietnam but now lives in
ing economy . streets for the past couple in a county where more shows the unsheltered pop- a tent in downtown Los An-
Rents have soared be- of years. than 5,600 people now ulation grew by 44 percent geles. He is surrounded by
yond affordability for many The numbers in the report live on the streets or in their over two years to nearly thriving business and en-
lower-wage workers who back up what many peo- cars. The disease is spread 5,500. tertainment districts, and
until just a just few years ple in California, Oregon through a liver-damaging The homeless service area new apartments that are
ago could typically find a and Washington have virus that lives in feces. that includes most of Los attracting scores of young
place to stay. Now, even a been experiencing in their The outbreak prompted Angeles County, the epi- people to the heart of the
temporary setback can be communities: encamp- California officials to de- center of the crisis, saw its nation’s second most pop-
enough to leave them out ments sprouting along clare a state of emergency total homeless count top ulous city.q