Published December 25, 2017 at 5:36 PM
Updated December 25, 2017 at 5:38 PM
The U.S. homeless population has risen for the first time since 2010. According to a government study, there are now more than 550,000 homeless people across the country. Their plight gets extra attention this time of year, as the homeless prepare for winter across the northern part of the country
CGTN’s Dan Williams reports.
Under a road in the center of Chicago, some of the city’s homeless attempt to keep warm. Their possessions, including bundles of clothes and blankets, lie strewn across the sidewalks.
This is where many of Chicago’s homeless are preparing for a harsh winter. It’s estimated that some 82,000 are homeless here; many living on the street, including Joseph and his uncle.
“At night time, even with blankets and all of that, we’d still be freezing. This concrete gets so cold it cracks,” Jason said. “Since I have been out here, seven years, I have seen about six people down here pass away from the cold.”
Another homeless man, Kenneth, told me about the desperate lengths he has to go to stay warm.
“If a friend can’t help me, I stay on the train. You know, back and forth. The day, start all over again. You see my buddy and all, broke down like I broke down now,” he said as he started to cry.
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, homelessness across the country is on the rise for the first time in seven years.
It’s estimated that the number of homeless in the country now stands at about 554,000, a one percent increase from a year ago. This is in part because of rising rents with incomes not keeping pace.
The homeless in Chicago say they are constantly being chased away from other downtown locations. Some say their belongings, tents, and blankets have been seized by the local authorities, making their situation all the more precarious.
The Chicago Coalition for the Homeless is calling for changes.
“Far too often, the city, the government approaches homelessness as a nuisance and uses the law and the criminalization of homelessness as a way to address it,” according to Doug Schenkelberg. “That doesn’t really help anyone. The goal when they do that is to get homelessness out of the line of sight.”
There is some help, however. A number of charities and community outreach programs attempt to provide a safety net.
But funding is tight.
A Safe Haven Foundation provides housing, as well as job training, to help people become self-sufficient.
“I had an addiction to drugs. Marijuana to be specific. And also alcohol,” program participant Davawn told me. “And that was stopping me from being as successful as I could be. They’ve got different programs here like welder, landscaping, culinary arts. There should be one of these programs in every state.”
Davawn is one of the luckier ones. He hopes it won’t be long before he has a place he can call home. But for many others, the only certainty is the prospect of a brutal and unforgiving winter. (Source: https://america.cgtn.com/2017/12/25/chicago-usa-homeless-population-rising-growing )

OAKLAND, Calif. (CBS) — A dozen people will get a fresh start in a new homeMonday as the city of Oakland welcomes the first group of homeless people to live in a vacant lot set up with storage sheds.
On Monday morning, city workers were putting the finishing touches on the experimental shelters. Plans to use the storage sheds for temporary housing in Oakland were first announced early in October.
A group of 20 “Tuff Sheds” have been set up on the lot at Bush and 6th streets

The city of Oakland will provided services like social workers and health providers to the community.
The units measure 10 feet by 12 feet and look like little cabins. City officials say each one will house two people.
While the 20 sheds will be able to house 40 people, it is just a start. More than 2,000 people in Oakland are without homes.
“On the long term, we need to build more units. Luckily Oakland passed Measure KK which includes $100 million toward housing. Alameda County passed Measure A1, which is $6 million towards affordable housing. ”
This new community is located just feet from sprawling homeless encampments.
The program, among the first tests for the city working to tackle the homeless crisis.
When asked if Oakland residents should expect to see more of these lots transformed into communities with storage sheds, DeVries replied, “If this is successful and we can identify the resources to replicate this, we absolutely will.” (source: http://www.wusa9.com/news/nation-world/oakland-using-storage-sheds-to-house-homeless-in-vacant-lot/496991977 )

Though the overall number of homeless people in the United States has been in a slow decline in recent years, homelessness has risen sharply in larger cities. More than 500,000 people were homeless in the United States at the end of last year, according to a report by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Many who find themselves living on the streets find a level of community and security in homeless encampments—whether the tent cities are sanctioned or unofficial. Gathered here are images of some of these tent cities, from Seattle, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., St. Louis, Las Cruces, and Honolulu. Though residents say they enjoy the stability of the camps, they still live in uncertainty, as many cities have clamped down in recent years, carrying out evictions and tearing down the tents. (Source: https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2016/02/americas-tent-cities-for-the-homeless/462450/ )

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