California's Homeless Crisis Grows- Ellen Fritz

Despite the numerous efforts by the government and billions of dollars put into the crisis, California's homeless population continues to grow. With a quarter of America's homeless (118,000 people) living in California, state leaders have resorted to their last idea: Government sanctioned homeless camps. Within the next month, two camps are being opened in Oakland, California to house the homeless in the area. Other cities in California including Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Jose are considering similar proposals, and San Diego opens it's first city-sanctioned homeless camp on October 9th. The reason for such a crisis is simple: the rapidly rising housing costs in California. People are being forced out of their homes and have no traveling options open to them. They have to live on the streets, in horrible conditions, due to America's rapidly changing economics. 

I think that the main reason for the rise in the American homeless population, especially in the west, is due to the depletion of the middle class. The gap between the rich and the poor is rising all over the world, but is extremely prevalent in the US. Rich families want to stay rich and there is no opportunity for the economic improvement of poor families. Wealth is inherited. It's difficult, if not impossible, for people who are homeless and have mental or physical disabilities to rise up in the classes due to this wealth gap. This causes worse education education, negative stigma, and housing issues in the poor population, and less productive workforce overall. 

Link : https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/09/us/california-today-homeless-camps-with-official-blessing.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fus&action=click&contentCollection=us&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=9&pgtype=sectionfront