“Nationally, people without homes have life spans 12 years shorter than those with homes, according to the National Health Care for the Homeless Council. In her research, Santa Clara University public health Assistant Professor Jamie Chang notes the disparity in the Valley is much worse: Homeless people in Santa Clara County live, on average, 30 years fewer than their housed peers. “
It is hard to find a bigger indictment of the failure of our leaders to seriously address the problem of the unhoused, known popularly as the homeless. The work of Professor Chang should be read by every citizen and every elected leader. We have provided a link below to an article published in the Santa Clara Magazine which is given to alumni and friends of Santa Clara University..
“To die without a home is to die in part because of homelessness, says Chang. The lack of health care and stresses on the body and mind that come with existing without a home add up.”
Professor Chang concludes that the culprit is frequent “sweeps.” And such sweeps are continuing to destroy homeless encampments without giving people a safe place to go. The cost for the last couple of years has been 250 unhoused people dying in San Jose each year!!! They range in age from 91 to less than a year old!
Being unhoused should not be a death sentence!
Villages of Hope Silicon Valley is asking all of you to join us in relentlessly campaigning to end these devastating sweeps. We are pleading to have the creation of what we call villages of hope, emergency shelters, that provide a path for the unhoused to have a secure place to live, and, with time, the possibility of receiving the care they need to hopefully end living without a house.
Please read this painful article completely, and join our campaign to end homelessness!
To read the full article, here is a link to it: https://magazine.scu.edu/magazines/summer-2022/swept-away/.
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