The National Low Income Housing Coalition’s 2023 Out of Reach report has dubbed Santa Cruz County the most expensive rental market in the nation. Action Must be taken to address this, and it needed to be taken 10+ years ago.
The extreme rental prices in our area are feeding our unhoused numbers. The majority of the unhoused in Santa Cruz County once had secured housing; the unhoused are our neighbors who are suffering from housing insecurity, our elderly pushed out by expensive costs, folks who have suffered natural disasters and the human disasters created by ineffective government response to these issues. Our perceptions of the unhoused absolutely have to change. Certainly mental health and addiction disorders need to be addressed for many, and that support should be available. However, many of the people we see in encampments were folks living paycheck to paycheck who simply lost their housing and couldn’t find anything else they could afford.
This could happen to anyone and we must do what we can to protect families, the elderly and other vulnerable sections of our communities that are on fixed incomes from slipping through these cracks.
Please share, like and more importantly comment on this video. What has your experience been with housing costs in this county? What do you think the solutions are? What support would you like to see the county and state extend the unhoused? We’re here, and we’re listening.
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