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It’s a Monday afternoon on Coral Street. There are a dozen or so tents lining the sidewalks, and more people milling about on the street, many with dogs and belongings in tow. By Tuesday morning, everyone is gone, their belongings towed away or disposed of, and the street is sectioned off with police tape and cars.
They’ll all be back tomorrow, but for now they are gone. Why force away the very people that the housing campus is there to help? Well, a Housing Matters donor and a state senator are visiting this afternoon, and that just wouldn’t do for them to see the truth about homelessness in Santa Cruz.
The U.S. has a long history of violent relocation of undesirable people, and Santa Cruz is no exception.
When even our nonprofits are willing to say, “go away and be someone else’s problem,” what do we expect our unhoused neighbors to do? It’s always “go away,” but go where exactly?
Unhoused people are not garbage to be swept away, they are human beings deserving of dignity and safety. Housing matters because people matter – a truth of which our local government and nonprofits apparently need reminding.
Kevin Gallagher
Santa Cruz