10-year-old Arbelia Noah has lived with her mother at "The Jungle," believed to be one od the largest homeless encampments in the country. (Matt Bigler/CBS)
SAN JOSE (KCBS) – As clean-up crews and police continue to dismantle the massive homeless encampment known as “The Jungle” in San Jose, many of the people who have called the site home for years said evicting the homeless will not solve any of the city’s problems.
“I don’t feel like it’s right,” said 10-year-old Arbelia Noah, who has been living at the encampment with her mother. “People don’t have nowhere to go. I think it’s messed up and I don’t want to leave.”
As Arbelia and her mom packed up their belongings, the question on many minds is, where will the people being forced to move end up? Homeless advocates are calling for a legal alternative to “The Jungle.”
“In the short version, we need legal campgrounds away from the creeks so that you don’t have pollution problems,” said Sandy Perry with CHAM Deliverance Ministry. “We’re the richest country in the world. We need to be able to house our people.”
For their part, San Jose officials said they have worked for months to get many residents into homes.
“We’ve been able to house over 144 people. We’re going to be housing 60 or 70 more,” said Ray Bramson, Homeless Response Manager for the City of San Jose. “Tent cities, shanty towns have been band aid solutions that have been failing communities for over 80 years.”
Surreal scene here at The Jungle…a beautiful rainbow belies the messy cleanup of the homeless encampment pic.twitter.com/GtGX41fQu9
