Archive for February 2025
Immigration contributes substantially to boost in homeless numbers
Dorothea Lange, photographer. Migrant Mother, 1935. The influx of migrants to states like CA played a big role in rising homelessness count nationwide, reports the LA Times. Because the local agencies taking the count across the country do not ask for immigration status, homeless numbers ballooned in a handful of states that took in tens…
Read MoreUpdate: CA Community Colleges backs down on forcing faculty DEI alignment
Even when condemned to death, free speech bastion—and teacher—Socrates refused to relinquish his ideas. (Jacques-Louis David, The Death of Socrates, 1787. Image by Wikimedia Commons.) After CA Community Colleges adopted a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion mandate for profs in 2023, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) filed suit for six faculty. As FIRE…
Read More☆ Smith and Wolf: Where SJ and SF’s Housing First methodology went wrong (2/4)
Image by County of Los Angeles Bay Area homeless policy advocates Irene Smith and Tom Wolf discuss why they believe CA’s extreme Housing First approach (barrier-free Permanent Supportive Housing) harms our homeless neighbors and community. What if local pols pursued “middle ground” solutions instead? Part 2 of an Opp Now exclusive. Opportunity Now: Earlier, you…
Read MoreIt’s past time for large-scale community shelters to address D3’s homelessness crisis
Homelessness is not receding in our district, our city, our county, or state. Many people think it’s actually getting worse. Why? Because our current interim housing model for addressing homelessness is, in many ways, just a long list of intermittent, disconnected, small-scale efforts (Watson Park, tiny homes, RV parks). They’re just not broad enough, not cost-effective enough,…
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