Imperial County takes on the homelessness problem in the valley
Imperial County is making it a priority to solve the homelessness problem that has increased by almost 30 percent in the last year.
One of the causes of homelessness in the county is the lack of affordable housing. “Those that are in Calworks, those that are on fixed income, social security, disability, cannot afford a livable safe environment. With the income that they receive,” said Mickey Castro, Deputy Director of Social Services.
John is just one of thousands of the homeless people in Imperial County. “The homeless is looked down upon. They don’t want the homeless here. People just want them to disappear,” John said.
And with these hot temperatures, living out in the streets is even more dangerous. “It can get up to 120 degrees some days. And it’s really hot and you can’t do nothing. You’re just like, stop wherever you are,” John said.
It’s also costing taxpayers money. Tony Phillips, Imperial Valley Continuum Care of Council consultant said, “First of all, there’s the actual cost of homelessness. By each individual experiencing it, has drive up through use of emergency services, public responses. Higher cost of rate.”
Bringing awareness to the community can help battle the issue. Ken Wuytens, Executive Directors United Way of Imperial County said, “I think it’ll help people want to get involved. And say how can we help in this effort to eliminate or at least decrease drastically the amount of homelessness here.”
Officials say it’s important that we not blame the homeless, but give them a way out of it. Elizabeth Dreicer, Interim Executive Director of the Alliance Healthcare Foundation said, “Don’t just make homelessness tolerable. And don’t just accept it as a fate to complete. That in fact people are able to make progress and move out of homelessness with the necessary support.”
John, who’s been homeless since his mother died, says if he received help from the county, he’d feel like part of the community. “Well, I would feel like part of society again. Mainstream society. I wouldn’t feel like an outcast.”
