📰🤩 One Brand-New Study Spill Di Beans on Homelessness in California 🏠💔
Di researchers dem don discover one different tori about di homeless pipo for California: Dem bin dey live for poverty for di state before dem suddenly lose dia house.
One massive study wey di University of California, San Francisco publish dis morning show us one different side of di matter. Di pipo wey end up for di streets bin dey work and dey live for poverty for di state before dem lose dia homes. When dem no sabi where to turn, dem come dey suffer violence and bad health as dem try for years to find stability again. 😔🔬💔
“Somethin’ go wrong, and den evri evri else scatter,” di lead researcher of di study, Dr. Margot Kushel, wey be di director of Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative for di university yan. “Evritin for dia life come worse when dem lose dia house: dia health, dia mental health, dia use of substance.”
She come talk say e dey like “personal doom loop.”
California don dey battle wit severe inequality of income, high cost of living, and shortage of affordable houses for years now, and di state don get more than 171,000 pipo wey dey homeless — na like 30 percent of di total for di whole country. Di new study show say dem dey older pass di average and dem dey disproportionately Black or Native American. 👵🏾🏠🌃
“Na di combination of deep poverty and high cost of housing cause dis wahala,” Kushel yan. “We dey like evri oda state for dis country, we get many pipo wey dey very poor, but we no get enough houses for dem.”
Kushel and her team focus on eight counties wey represent different experiences for di state, including rural and urban areas. For about one year from October 2021, dem visit di makeshift homes and oda areas to survey 3,200 adults, and dem later interview 365 of dem for up to one hour, sometimes under scorching heat of 110 degrees. 🗺️🏘️🔍
Di researchers follow guidance from pipo wey bin homeless like Claudine Sipili, wey im own one-year experience start afta divorce. She give di researchers advice on how to balance dia data collection with manners wey go make pipo feel comfortable. “E dey important well well for me say dem do am for di most dignified way,” Sipili, wey dey 44 years, yan.
Di project start for 2019 when Dr. Mark Ghaly, wey be California secretary for health and human services, ask Kushel to see how di state policies dey affect pipo wey dey street. Dem no just dey look pipo wey dey use California services, but dem also dey find out who di state dey ignore.
Most of di pipo wey dem interview bin manage to avoid homelessness by crashing with friends or family, but di arrangement no last. Dem wey get dia own houses dey lose dem quickly as income drop. Over and over again, pipo yan say dem no know say dem go lose dia house until few days before e happun. 🔍🏡🤔
Researchers come ask dem wetin dem do to seek help.
“Pipo yan, ‘Wetin? Wetin for help?’” Kushel yan. “E break my heart.”
Almost evri evri pipo wey researchers yan with want find one permanent house again, and almost half of dem dey actively find work. Most of dem yan say if dem get extra $300 per month, e for help dem prevent homelessness and fit help dem end am.
Sipili yan say she hope say pipo wey neva see homelessness go see di humanity wey dey di study data, and go feel say dem need improve di broader system wey dey serve pipo wey no get house.
“Dem dey blame di pipo instead of look di system wey dey cause am,” she yan.
Aidan Gardiner na news assistant for di Standards department and e don work on homelessness and housing features for di Headway initiative for The Times. 📚🏘️📰
NOW IN ENGLISH
📰🤩 Groundbreaking Study Unveils the Realities of Homelessness in California 🏠💔
The researchers have uncovered a different narrative about the homeless individuals in California: They were living in poverty within the state before suddenly losing their homes.
A groundbreaking study published by the University of California, San Francisco, this morning sheds light on a different aspect of the issue. The people who end up on the streets were previously working and living in poverty in the state before experiencing the loss of their homes. Without knowing where to turn, they endure violence and suffer from poor health as they strive for stability again. 😔🔬💔
“Something goes wrong, and then everything else falls apart,” says the study’s lead researcher, Dr. Margot Kushel, the director of the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative at the university. “Everything in their life worsens when they lose their homes: their health, their mental well-being, their substance use.”
She describes it as a “personal doom loop.”
For years, California has been grappling with severe income inequality, high living costs, and a shortage of affordable housing. The state currently has over 171,000 homeless individuals, accounting for approximately 30 percent of the national total. The new study reveals that they tend to be older than the average population and are disproportionately Black or Native American. 👵🏾🏠🌃
“It’s the combination of deep poverty and high housing costs that causes this problem,” explains Kushel. “Like every other state in this country, we have a significant number of very poor people, but we don’t have enough housing for them.”
Kushel and her team focused on eight counties in the state, representing diverse experiences including rural and urban areas. Over the course of a year, starting in October 2021, they visited makeshift homes and various locations to survey 3,200 adults. They then conducted interviews with 365 of them, sometimes enduring scorching temperatures of up to 110 degrees, for up to an hour. 🗺️🏘️🔍
Throughout the research, they received guidance from individuals who had experienced homelessness, such as Claudine Sipili, whose one-year episode began after a divorce. Sipili provided the researchers with advice on how to balance their data collection with compassionate interactions to ensure the comfort of the participants. “It was crucial for me that this was conducted in the most dignified manner possible,” said Sipili, who is 44 years old.
The project commenced in 2019 when Dr. Mark Ghaly, the California Secretary for Health and Human Services, requested Kushel to examine how state policies were impacting people on the streets. They aimed to understand not only who was utilizing California’s services but also who was being overlooked by the state.
Most of the individuals interviewed had managed to delay their descent into homelessness by relying on friends or family, but these arrangements proved temporary. Those who owned homes often lost them rapidly when their income declined. Repeatedly, people expressed that they had no knowledge of losing their housing until a few days before it happened. 🔍🏡🤔
When researchers inquired about the assistance they sought, they received disheartening responses. “People would say, ‘What? What assistance?'” Kushel lamented. “It broke my heart.”
Almost every person the researchers spoke with expressed a desire to secure a permanent home once again, and nearly half of them were actively seeking employment. Many said that an additional $300 per month would have helped them avoid homelessness and could also facilitate their path out of it.
Sipili hopes that those who have never experienced homelessness will recognize the humanity revealed in the study’s data and feel compelled to improve the broader system that serves individuals without homes.
“They blame the individuals instead of examining the systemic factors,” she stated.
Aidan Gardiner serves as a news assistant in the Standards department and has contributed to homelessness and housing features for the Headway initiative at The Times. 📚🏘️📰
