The sadness and vulnerability being homeless this teen’s letter expresses, is sadly matched by the inability of the adjacent community to use the Parkway because the teen’s family are illegally camped there, creating very unsafe conditions for all.
Our proposal is to balance public safety with compassion and enforce the laws against illegal camping, making the Parkway safe for use; and implement the Housing First approach for the homeless, creating subsidized housing scattered throughout the community, buttressed by services, as the solution. More information about this can be found on our website at www.arpps.org on our news page, see Lower Reach Report.
Excerpt from published homeless teen’s letters.
From "Outdoor living can be rough terrain," by Paul Bishop
I live by the American River. My camp is pretty big. My mother and father live there with me, and we have two tents. My dog and I stay in one, and my parents stay in the other one. Usually life is peaceful ... but this particular day was different. ...
...Two park rangers and one city officer walked up and asked everyone to step out of their tents. Then the officer said, "You guys are all getting tickets (for illegal camping), but we have to wait for another officer."
So we waited. ... The whole time I was thinking, "I hope they don't take me to C.P.S. (Child Protective Services)."
