Sacramento Mayor Camps With Homeless

by Shannon Moriarty · 2009-08-25 18:34:00 UTC
Topics:

Here's something you don't see everyday: a Mayor sleeping outside, among the homeless, in the local tent city.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson recently spent the night outdoors with his city's homeless.... sort of. His stay was abbreviated, he only stayed about half the night. Still - it was a bold move of solidarity with his community's homeless that will likely not be easily forgotten. He told KTXL, "When you think about it, there are a lot of us that don't want to face the reality that not everyone in Sacramento has a place to lay their head, whether it be a shelter or permanent housing. And as a mayor, I think this is a fight worth having."

I can imagine that a night spent outdoors, even a half night, has opened his eyes to the urgency of the homelessness situation in his city.

To that end, I think Mayor Johnson has set an important example here. I don't believe sleeping outside is necessary to understand the root causes of homelessness or implement effective solutions to end it. And I don't advocate having every single politician in America spend the night on the streets. But I do think it's a unique way to gain a new perspective on the issue of homelessness and demonstrate solidarity with those who must experience it.

Shannon Moriarty has worked in various homeless shelters and service organizations around the country. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.
PREVIOUS STORY:
Evacuteers Put Poor on High Ground
NEXT STORY:
Sallie Mae Blinks!

COMMENTS (8)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.