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SPEAKER_04: I didn't realize I was part of a trend, but I was. Thousands of other people were also moving to the Bay Area for work. The cost of rent skyrocketed, and over the course of about five years, homelessness in the county where I live doubled.
All over town, you can see the effects of this. Almost as if a tidal wave of wealth washed people out of their houses and into the streets. Into tents and RVs and cars.
SPEAKER_00: I know these people right here. I know these people right here. I know them people right there.
SPEAKER_06: All homeless. All homeless in their cars. They're renting not apartments, not bedrooms, beds for $1200 a month near the college. That's outrageous. It's hard to get out of this s*** when you're homeless.
SPEAKER_00: You don't know what your life is going to be the next two hours. You know, it just like swallows you up.
SPEAKER_06: Mom. Yeah? You know what I think about? What do you think about daddy?
We need a house.
SPEAKER_04:
Given just the sheer scale of homelessness all over the U.S., but in the Bay Area in particular, you could be forgiven for thinking there was no system in place to address it. But you'd be wrong. Thank you so much for helping. How can I assist you today?
SPEAKER_05: Yes, me and my 11 year old son is homeless.
SPEAKER_04: There is actually a system to help people out of homelessness, but it doesn't help everyone. What does it take to be priority for them?
SPEAKER_00: I don't understand it. So they get you on the list. They're very good at getting people on lists.
SPEAKER_05: How this system works is confusing and opaque. Some might say Kafka-esque.
SPEAKER_04: It's all a huge mystery. I mean, we're like, you know, professionals here.
SPEAKER_05: You know, we have law degrees and we can't figure out what's going on and can't get a hold of people. I spent a long time trying to understand this system.
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, it feels a little bit like the Wizard of Oz. I guess my first question is like, are you the wizard? Is this Oz? I do. I do have a map of Oz.
SPEAKER_04: There are hundreds of thousands of people experiencing homelessness in the United States, and COVID could make things even worse. So what are we doing about it? According to Need is a special documentary series from 99% Invisible that looks at the system we have to get people back inside. Find it in your 99 PI podcast feed on December 1st.
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