“Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists, there is no true freedom.”
- Nelson Mandela
Welcome to San Jose's biggest community issue.
If you're reading this, you might be a San José local who understands the extremely high price of living in the California Bay Area. Affordable housing and homelessness are such big topics here that it's on every Councilmember's newsletter and City Hall Meetings can last well until midnight debating on how to deal with these issues. With most San José residents spending more than 50% of their earnings on rent each month, and the amount of homeless encampment increasing on every corner, we've got the resources to keep you knowledgeable about this these issues that hit very close to home.
Ready to get started? Click on the button below!
Resources - Nonfiction
Resources - Fiction
Organizations
- PATH – A state-wide nonprofit organization that helps local homeless individuals rebuild their lives and move into permanent apartments (including outreach services they offer at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in San José.)
- National Alliance to End Homelessness – A nonprofit organization whose sole purpose is to end homelessness in the United States.
- Destination: Home – A public-private partnership with a mission of ending homelessness in Santa Clara County.
Action
- California Homeless Bill of Rights
- San José's Hope Village Homeless Camp Comes Down
- More Students Face Homelessness as SJSU School Year Ends
- Homelessness in Santa Clara County Spikes by 31%
Information
- Pew Research Center - Poverty – The latest Pew Research Center data and reports on issues and attitudes toward poverty and related policies.
- The New York Times - Homelessness – News about Homelessness, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.
- City of San José Homeless Services Guide
For Educators
This toolkit is just a framework for facilitating an SJ Engage Circle.
Sample Discussion Questions
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, housing is considered affordable when a person pays no more than 30% of income toward housing costs, including utilities. When people pay more than 30% of income toward housing costs, they are considered “housing cost burdened,” and when they pay more than 50%, they are considered severely housing cost burdened.
- To what extent are you and your family experiencing changes in housing costs and affordability?
- What changes related to housing costs do you see in your community?
- To what extent is housing affordability affecting your thinking or experience of the American Dream?
- What percentage of your income does your housing cost? What is the impact on your life?
- How is housing affordability affecting your vision for your own future – or the future of your community as you know it?
- What would you like to see happen in your community or the country to begin addressing housing affordability?
Competencies
Common Core: ELA Writing
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.9 – Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Teaching Tolerance Social Justice Standards: Action
- AC.9-12.17 – I take responsibility for standing up to exclusion, prejudice, and injustice.
Questions?
Email teenhq@sjlibrary.org or visit sjpl.org/sjengage for more information.
Sponsor
This project has been made possible in part by a grant from Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
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