Posted on 03/05/2009 11:45:39 PM PST by bruinbirdman
Sacramento has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the United States.
As many as 50 people a week arrive at the tent city and the authorities estimate it is now home to more than 1,200 people.
Now its homeless population hope an Oprah TV show about recession, foreclosures and homelessness will help them out of poverty.
They hope the segment on the national talk show will prompt more donations and government help. Producers visited Sacramento in February to visit the homeless shelters.
"We're very glad that Oprah and her team have chosen to give this crisis a voice, because it is a crisis," Michele Steeb, executive director of St. John's Shelter, said. "Our turnaway numbers have risen from 20 women and children being turned away per day in 2007 to 80 in 2008 to our current number of 230 women and children being turned away a day. It is a crisis and it's only getting worse. We're so glad that she's giving the crisis a voice. We're honoured to be part of the discussion because it's an important discussion to have," she said.
The city and county of Sacramento have already received $34 million to help fight the effects of the foreclosure crisis but, in the meantime, hundreds of people have moved into the shelters.
Authorities in Sacramento, where Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has his office, are suffering as the state has a £30billion deficit and the tent city looks like becoming a permanent fixture.
"I can't say tent cities are the answer to the homeless population in Sacramento," Kevin Johnson, Sacramento's mayor said, "but I think it's one of the many things that should be considered and looked at.'
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Maybe we should start calling these tent cities “Obamavilles”.
The 5-state depression.
hows that leftwing government treating you??
might not get a state tax refund this year huh?
we need to invest in tent manufacturers
> “They hope the segment on the national talk show will prompt more donations and government help.”
So what the hell was that $1.3 trillion dollar porkulus package for in the first place? Now Oprah wants us to GIVE MORE?? She’s fat, an Obama-ass kisser and truly delusional.
They are wasting away again in Obamaville...
Eventually the Kenyan Komrade will move the poor& homeless into foreclosed houses in your neighborhood
Outdoor life is good for you. Lots of sunshine and fresh air
This article seems to take an A+B=C, direction, and assumes facts not in evidence. I am not quite sure how they know the homeless have been foreclosed on and that the numbers are not higher for another reason or a combination of causes.
We have more people show up at the shelters, therefore there are more homeless people and the direct causation is foreclosure? Seems a bit anecdotal to me. If you don’t directly poll these people then I am not sure it is right to speculate causation and start throwing money at it.
Socialism doesn’t, and will not work. Bottom-up nonsense will not get people employed. Right now, a leader with enough sense to show optimism and promote tax structures that encourage investment in America as well as policies that would stop wasteful spending, could lead America to prosperity in short order.
yitbos
What I’d like to see the super-rich (like Oprah, Warren Buffet, etc) do is address this issue by putting their money where their mouth is.
They should make very large cash donations to some of these groups that are trying to help the homeless or help people avoid foreclosure.
Rather than do a TV show on a tent city in Sacramento, why doesn’t Oprah drop a couple of million dollars on paying off some people’s mortgages, thus allowing them to keep their homes?
For many of the ultra-rich, talk is incredibly cheap.
No one believes Oprah anymore. She is a guilt freak who has put women back more than 100 years.
That’s a good name.
The homeless will probably be herded up humanely and shipped off to a work camp, I hear there is one just built near Travis AFB.
Money given, is money taxed by the IRS unless it comes from the Gov. Double taxation.
Receive? Taxed. Given? Taxed. Lottery? Taxed. New pencil? Taxed.
One advantage to living in a cold climate. Those tents are much more fun in CA than Minnesota.
Go West, young man!
I like that line that Snyder tended to exaggerate his claims of numbers of homeless. Yes, by abput thirty times the actual numbers.
I see The Obammunist is building about 27 camps suitable to hold thousands of "counter-revolutionaries" each. Yes, they are officially emergency holding locations.
yitbos
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.