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California is home for one-quarter of nation's homeless Golden State residents start to push back Share Shares Copy Link Copy

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PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY LIVING HERE IN THE GOLDEN STATE. THEY WERE BUILDING CAMPS ON PEOPLE’S LAWNS AND SLEEPING ON THE SIDEWALKS. >> WE CANNOT HAVE IT. IS NOT SAFE. >> PEOPLE ARE VERY CONCERNED. MIKE: IN TENT CITIES, STOREFRONTS, CHURCHES, PARKS, RV’S PARKED IN QUIET NEIGHBORHOODS, ALONG BUSY FREEWAYS, OR SLEEPING ON THE SIDEWALK, WITHOUT HOPE, DIGNITY, OR A WAY OUT. THIS IS JUST A SMALL SNAPSHOT OF CALIFORNIA’S GROWING HOMELESS CRISIS. >> I BECAME HOMELESS IN OKLAHOMA CITY. MY EX-WIFE AND I HAD A BASIC FALLING OUT. I ASKED FOR THE DIVORCE. MIKE: CLAY POWELL CAME TO CALIFORNIA LAST YEAR. AND FOR THE LAST THREE MONTHS HE’S BEEN LIVING ON THE STREETS OF SACRAMENTO. >> IT’S STUPIDLY HAR IT’S BECAUSE THERE ARE SO MANY HOMELESS AND SO LITTLE HOUSING. MIKE: IT’S NOT JUST THE LACK OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING, IT’S THE COST OF WHAT FEW UNITS ARE AVAILABL WHAT POWELL NEEDS? >> PERSONALLY, THREE MONTHS FREE IN A TINY HOUSE. MIKE: FAR FROM FREE, THE AVERAGE PRICE FOR A ONE-BEDROOM SACRAMENTO IS MORE THAN $1500 MONTH. THAT’S NEARLY 11% INCREASE FROM 2018. IT’S LEFT THOUSANDS LIVING IN TENT CITIES AND ON CALIFORNIA’S STREETS. 5500 IN SACRAMENTO COUNTY. 8000 IN SAN FRANCISCO. IN LOS ANGELES, NEARLY 50,00 AND STATEWIDE, 150,000. >> IF YOU ARE JUST DOING SANDWICHES OUT HERE, THAT’S GOOD. WE ALL LIKE SANDWICHES. WHO DOESN’T? BUT THREE HOURS LATER YOU AR GONE AND THIS PERSON IS STILL IN THE SAME SITUATION. MIKE: IT’S MORE THAN JUST A PERSONAL PROBLEM FOR PEOPLE LIKE POWELL. IT’S A POLITICAL ONE. 20% OF LIKELY VOTERS IDENTIFIED HOMELESSNESS AS THE TOP ISSUE IN CALIFORNIA, ACCORDING THE PUBL POLICY INSTITUTE. IT’S A SOCIAL ISSUE DEFINING AND DIVIDING THE STATE. >> I PERSONALLY STAMPED OUT FOUR POTENTIAL FIRES IN THE LAST THREE MONTHS. MIKE: THE ENCAMPMENTS ARE CREEPING INTO NEIGHBORHOODS LIKE RICH RUSSELL’S. HIS SACRAMENTO STREET BUTTS UP AGAINST A TREE LINED GREENBELT, HOMELESS COME AND GO, LEAVING BEHIND DIRTY AND DANGEROUS REMINDERS OF THEIR PRESENCE. >> WE FOUND PLENTY OF NEEDLES IN THIS LITTLE AREA OVER HERE AND WE’VE FOUND PLENTY OF NEEDLES HERE IN THIS AREA TOO. MIKE: ALSO LEFT BEHIND, TARP TENTS, TRASH, LOTS OF TRASH AND LITTER. RUSSELL AND HIS NEIGHBORS CLEANED UP ABANDONED CAMPS ON THEIR OWN. >> WE FOUND AT LEAST 20 USED NEEDLES. THEY ARE SHOOTING DRUGS ON THAT SIDE OF THE FENCE. MIKE: IT’S HERE WHERE WE FOUND ALBERT LUMBANG SIFTING THROU HIS MARIJUANA BUDS. HE TOLD US HE’S BEEN LIVING THE STREETS FOR THREE YEARS. DO YOU GET A SENSE THAT PEOPLE DON’T WANT YOU HERE? >> YEAH, BUT I STAY HIDDEN, YOU KNOW. IF THEY CAN’T SEE YOU, THEY CAN’T COMPLAIN, RIGHT? MIKE: MORE AND MORE FED-UP RESIDENTS ARE TAKING ACTION ON THEIR OW NEIGHBORHOOD PUSHBACK TO HOMELESSNESS IS SPREADING OTHER PARTS OF SACRAMENTO. LIKE MEADOWVIEW PARK ALONG SACRAMENTO’S 24TH STREET. THIS IS WHERE BARBARA SOTCAN LIVES. >> IT’S BEEN ABOUT SIX MONTHS, MIKE. AND BEFORE THAT I DON’T RECALL THERE EVER BEING SUCH A PROBLE MIKE: SHE’S HAD HOMELESS PEOPLE SET UP CAMP RIGHT OUTSIDE HER DOOR, WHEN SHE IS ASLEEP IN THE HOUSE. HER WELL-MANICURED GATE COURTYARD LITTERED WITH DISCARDED BAGS AND TRASH. >> IT LETS ME KNOW IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT SOMEONE IS HERE ON MY COURTYARD. MIKE: THE ENCROACHMENT INCLUDES CAMPERS AND RV’S, IN THIS CASE, HOME TO A FAMILY WITH SMALL CHILDREN. THIS CAMP BACKING UP TO AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. SOTKIN SAYS ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. >> WE RESIDENTS DON’T FEEL SAFE. WE DON’T KNOW WHO THESE PEOPLE ARE. MIKE: STILL, THERE IS SUPPORT FOR THE HOMELESS SACRAMENTO CITY LEADERS JUST APPROVED A $100 MILLION TRUST FUND TO BUILD AFFORDABLE HOUSING. >> THEY NEED SECURIT THEY NEED TO BE ABLE TO KNOW THAT IF THEY LEAVE THEIR ENCAMPMENT OR WHEREVER THEY ARE THAT THEIR STUFF WAS TO BE THERE WHEN THEY RETURN. MIKE: CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY MARK MERIN SAYS THE HOMELESS NEED MORE HOUSING OPTIONS. >> IT’S RIDICULOUS TO SUGGEST THAT THE PEOPLE ON THE STREET ARE THERE BECAUSE THEY WANT TO BE. YOU OFFER THEM HOUSING, THEY’LL TAKE IT. MIKE: BUT HOUSING IS JUST A START. CLAY POWELL SAYS HOMELESS NEED SO MUCH MORE. >> HELP THEM FIND A JOB. SHOW THEM WHAT THE APPLICATION PROCESS SHOULD LOOK LIKE. SHOW THEM HOW TO DO A RESUME. SHOW THEM HOW TO PULL OFF AN INTERVIEW AND SUCCEED AT I IF WE DON’T HAVE PEOPLE THAT ARE WILLING TO HELP US, BE ABLE TO GIVE DIGNITY TO YOUR FELLOW MAN. MIKE: BUT RESIDENTS LIKE RICH RUSSELL SAY DIGNITY IS A TWO-WAY STREET. >> YOU ALSO HAVE TO HAVE CONCERN FOR THE CIVIL MAJORITY AND THE PUBLIC SAFETY. SO YEAH, I’M STARTING TO SEE A SHIFT IN THAT DIRECT