Hey Tribe,
This issue focuses on basic income and homelessness.
I’ve lived in the Bay Area for my entire life and it pains me to see so many people slip through the cracks of our society and fall into homelessness. As someone who was on section 8 housing, I was blessed to have the support of my community to help me with my housing needs. Unfortunately, most of the homeless were never offered such an opportunity.
The main drivers of homelessness are:
1. Unaffordable rents
2. Lack of housing development
3. Banning certain open spaces from being developed
4. Inadequate mental health services for our citizens
5. Lack of high-density affordable housing
6. Not in my back yard mentality (NIMBYism).
It’s sad that Silicon Valley focuses so much time talking about grand plans for improving the world, but right at our door step those who need the most help are ignored, shame on us. The rest of the country is watching how we treat the homeless, it’s our responsibility to make sure something is done to help our fellow citizens.
Like it or not, each and every one of us is playing some role in the issue. While I love open spaces and having the ability to hike, some of these open spaces could be developed to house more citizens or we could change the zoning laws to promote the development of high-density housing that would increase the supply of affordable housing units.
If you want to help out, there are plenty of nonprofits focusing on those 6 areas.
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