With the recession, more and more people are losing their homes in Sacramento. So much so that it even caught the attention of the producers from the Oprah Show. They came to Sacramento to examine the "New Homeless in Sacramento." Chilling. The 'new homeless' are people like you and me. Teachers. Small business owners. Middle-class, hardworking people. People who believed in and lived the American Dream. Where are those dreams now?
Just in my neighborhood alone, at least three houses have been foreclosed on in recent months. One day a family is living there, the next day the house is empty and a notice appears on the door or a sign is posted on the lawn. There is no hint that it is going to happen - they just disappear in the night. Where do they go?
If they don't have friends and family they can turn to - a lot of them are ending up in temporary tents along the river. And you know what? I just learned about this. I live in Sacramento and just learned about the tent city. I drive to work in downtown Sacramento and never even realized that less than a mile down the river that I cross five days a week - a tent city has been erected for those who have recently lost their jobs and have nowhere else to go. Shocking, but true. Where have I been that I have not seen or heard about what is going on in a city that I love? I feel like I have been living in a bubble. This makes me sad. This makes me sick. This makes me angry.
Not a day goes by that I don't hear of someone losing their job. Not a single day. And they say that it is going to get worse before it gets better.
Although I know this is not just a Sacramento problem - it is a problem being played out across the country. It doesn't make it feel any better. It doesn't make it feel like we are in this together.
This is not something that will be solved overnight. It is not something that we can simply leave up to our newly elected President. And it certainly is not something we can leave to our newly elected mayor. No, this is going to take all of us - collectively - to solve.
An editorial in The Sacramento Bee a few days ago called for a summit on homelessness. I think that is a good place to start. But until that happens, we need to have a safe environment for these people to live in until they can get back on their feet again. They need help now - not a few months from now, not a year from now - they need help now.
Black and white photos from Loaves & Fishes
Color Photo from The Sacramento Bee/Randal Benton
I think one of the greatest frustrations in all of this is that there is no fast and easy solution. I'm baffled at how quickly the economy declined and how quickly the chain reaction of one failure led to another and another and another.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what the answer is. I just know that each and every day, it becomes a bit more frightening. It feels like our country is drowning. In my heart, it makes me want to jump into action and try to do something.. I just don't know what I can do. What is the answer?!
Those are fascinating photos Elaine - I'm sure there are quite a few of those, perhaps in my city as well. I, like, are unaware of just where they might be - but these people must go *somewhere*. . . I agree with Kenn - the scariest part was how fast we spiraled down. It seems late last summer we were just "hunky dorie", getting ready for autumn - and then bang. One right after the other - we can only hope that the bottom of this mess is close by, but I'm sure we'll find remnants of greed and misuse of power in the decades to come.... thanks for posting such a powerful topic.
ReplyDelete