Sacramento Tent City For The Homeless To Come Down

The problem of homelessness is one that is apparent in almost every city of the world and nowhere is this more visible than Sacramento, California. Just a few miles from the State Capitol, by the American River, a large cluster of homeless men and women have settled in what's been dubbed "Tent City."

Hundred of make-shift tents have created an image to stark to what we expect to see anywhere in the United States. No running water or bathrooms, and trash strewed everywhere has added to the stunning scene so much so that it garnered attention from Oprah Winfrey last month. With this, as to be expected, came a a crush of national and international media coverage.

So I guess the negative media coverage has something to do with the plan to now close down the encampment within the next few week. This decision was made by Sacramento Mayor and former NBA star, Kevin Johnson who I'm sure doesn't want this for the image of his city in his first few months in office. "We're not going to go in and sweep them out of there," Johnson said at a news conference. "We've got to have tough love, but we've got to be compassionate."

Some stories portrayed Tent City as a modern day Hooverville, a reference to the shanty towns built by homeless men driven into poverty during the Great Depression. With foreclosure rates in the Sacramento region among the highest in the nation, the ragtag camp has been depicted as a symbol of the economic meltdown — people who'd lost their homes and were suddenly pitching tents along a riverbed but the truth is less dramatic.

Loaves & Fishes, a homeless facility about a 10-minute walk from Tent City, has provided meals and showers for the encampment dwellers. And in recent weeks, shelter officials have assumed the additional duty of ushers to news reporters and TV crews. "What's different about the Tent City is that so many people are gathered in such a visible site," said Joan Burke, Loaves & Fishes' director of advocacy. "I think the media attention is a positive because it lets the public know there are people actually living in Third World conditions."

Though the plan is supposed to move residents to shelters and apartments, this will not do anything to solve the problem, just make it less visible which is all officials really care about anyway. Another "Tent city" is bound to spring up somewhere else (probably somewhere less visible) as a federal lawsuit filed last year on behalf of the homeless against the city and county, combined with the media attention, caused law enforcement to ease up on enforcement of the city's anti-camping ordinance.





Images obtained from: gettyimages.com
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