San Diego Contends with Homelessness, Hepatitis Outbreak

SAN DIEGO (AP) — For Christine Wade, the tent she shared with six children, pitched in an asphalt parking lot, was far better than their previous home — a shelter where rats ate through the family's bags of clothes. "It's peaceful here," Wade, 31 and eight months pregnant, said in an October interview at the campground. A tent, of course, is not a home. But for these San Diegans, it is a blessing. Like other major cities all along the West Coast, San Diego is struggling with a homeless crisis. In a place that bills itself as "America's Finest City," spiraling real estate values have contributed to spiraling homelessness, leaving more than 3,200 people living on the streets or in their cars. Most alarmingly, the deplorable sanitary conditions help spread a liver-damaging virus that lives in feces, contributing to the deadliest U.S. hepatitis A epidemic in 20 years. "Some of the most vulnerable are dying in the streets in one of the most desirable and livable regions in America," a San Diego County grand jury wrote in its report in June  — reiterating recommendations it gave the city over the past decade to address homelessness. San Diego has struggled to do that. Two years ago, Mayor Kevin Faulconer closed a downtown tent shelter that operated for 29 years during winter months. He promised a "game changer" — a new, permanent facility with services to funnel people to housing. But it wasn't enough. The result? Legions of Cali...
Source: JEMS Administration and Leadership - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: News Administration and Leadership Source Type: news