7am Is The Wakeup Call To Move Their Homes

-
It's 7am, and most of us are hitting snooze or brewing our first cup of coffee, but not for the homeless community in Clarkston, Washington. John Parke, known as "Cowboy," gets up at the crack of dawn not to wake up to an automatic cup of Keurig coffee but to pack his entire home before the local authority writes him up another ticket for sleeping in. 

Cowboy on the move

Many cities across the United States are finding ways to either support or ban the homeless population growing across the country. Some counties are creating permanent supportive housing while other counties are banning encampments, an out-of-sight, out-of-mind solution that, for some odd reason won't cause the issue to disappear. 

When rural counties aren't taking responsibility for their community but instead pushing the problem for others to fix, it isn't creating a solution but creating an ever-growing snowball. When Lewingston County in Idaho banned camping in 2022, the homeless community was forced to move to the next town over in Clarkston, Washington. Slowly gaining traction from county to county and building up as it moves. Locals aren't finding solutions. They're handing it off to others to fix. 

"Since then, cities have sought new ways to regulate homelessness, restricting when and where people could camp, sleep, lie or sit. Homeless advocates argue the restrictions make it more difficult for unhoused people to survive. Grants Pass, a city of fewer than 40,000, fined homeless residents for having blankets and pillows in public parks despite a shortage of shelter beds. "

Clarkston has restricted camping from 7am to 9pm, and while the county has offered solutions, such as a hand-drawn map with barely visible markings of outdated restriction boundaries that offers unrestricted camping, it doesn't provide accessible resources the people need. 

Check out this link to read the trouble Cowboy has gone from fighting addiction to living in a cycle that doesn't seem to end. The homeless in Washington state scatter as cities ban them from public spaces



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Domestic Violence within the Homeless Community

-
Image
  Domestic Violence within the Homeless Community Source: Unsplash The Facts                                                                                          According to  Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), 233,832 are people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in the United States. Of the 233,832, 50,767 are families with children.  Currently, 30% of homeless people are adult women.  (portlandoregon.gov)   Bradley Angle , which works to support survivors of  domestic violence , reported that 70% of domestic violence reports are from homeless women. ( www.kgw.com)  Homeless women are 1/3 of the fastest growing populations HUD homeless populations. ( portlandoregon.gov)   Specifically, in Portland, Multnomah County has experienced a 20% rise in homelessness in 2023, the total amount of people homeless in Portland is currently  6,297 . (w illametteweek.com)                                                                     Source: Unsplash   The Problem        
Read more

Understanding Homelessness

-
Image
  Source (American Addiction Centers)      Homelessness has a myriad of different reasons it can happen. The similarity between all scenarios in which a person is experiencing homelessness is that each person is human. A popular belief is that homelessness is a choice. People believe there is a set amount of circumstances that cause homelessness and that it is a choice not to fight to get out of those problems. The problems can range from mental health issues to drug addiction. There is no one size fits all, and it is not a choice.  Over the last few weeks, I have learned that there are many factors that can lead to homelessness. One big one that focuses on our class is how affordable housing, or the lack thereof, is a significant contributor to people not getting back on their feet. If you want to learn more about that subject and if affordable housing can help, click here.   This lack of affordable housing is a big roadblock for those trying to overcome homelessness. However,
Read more

Air pollution caused by wildfires may increase risk of dementia

-
Image
  There are already more than 57 million dementia sufferers in the world, and by 2050, that figure is predicted to rise to 153 million. It is estimated that risk factors like exposure to air pollution account for up to 40% of these instances. Even when annual exposure was lower than the current EPA annual threshold of 12 micrograms per cubic meter of air (g/m3), the researchers discovered continuous evidence of a relationship between PM2.5 and dementia. The researchers discovered a 17% increase in risk for dementia for every 2 g/m3 increase in average yearly exposure to PM2.5, specifically among the studies using active case ascertainment. Despite the fact that the data was more sparse, they also discovered evidence supporting links between dementia and nitrogen oxide (5% increase in risk for every 10 g/m3 increase in yearly exposure) and nitrogen dioxide (2% increase in risk for every 10 g/m3 increase in annual exposure). According to a recent University of Michigan study, wildfires
Read more