2.4 22-0454 Subject: Declaration Of A Local Emergency On Homelessness
From: Vice Mayor Kaplan
Recommendation: Adopt A Resolution Renewing And Continuing The City Council's Declaration Of A Local Emergency Due To The Existence Of The City's Homelessness Crisis
Yes, there is a homelessness emergency in the city. So I urge the city to stop placing roadblocks in the way of an innovative contribution to this issue: the Homefulness houing project in East Oakland, where several townhouses have already been built by and for poor and houseless people. These units are ready for houseless families to move in, but are sitting empty because of unreasonable fees and roadblocks that the city continues to place on the project. It is hypocritical to pass resolutions on this issue without allowing solutions that are already there to move forward. Yes, it may be a drop in the bucket of the larger problem, but every family housed is a win, and it is unethical to not do everything in your power to give the green light for families to move in to this immediately available housing. - Cecilia Lucas, faculty in Global Poverty and Practice Program at UC Berkeley
Yes, there is a homelessness emergency in the city. So I urge the city to stop placing roadblocks in the way of an innovative contribution to this issue: the Homefulness houing project in East Oakland, where several townhouses have already been built by and for poor and houseless people. These units are ready for houseless families to move in, but are sitting empty because of unreasonable fees and roadblocks that the city continues to place on the project. It is hypocritical to pass resolutions on this issue without allowing solutions that are already there to move forward. Yes, it may be a drop in the bucket of the larger problem, but every family housed is a win, and it is unethical to not do everything in your power to give the green light for families to move in to this immediately available housing. - Cecilia Lucas, faculty in Global Poverty and Practice Program at UC Berkeley