Over the past two weeks, city crews have been demolishing Oakland’s largest homeless camp and moving upwards of 70 of its residents into a hotel that’s been newly converted into a shelter.
For some of the former residents of E. 12th, it’s their first time living indoors in years. But while it marks a major step toward safety and securing permanent housing, it’s hardly the end of the story.
There’s a common expectation that an unhoused person’s transition from a tent to an apartment is “wrapped up in a bow,” said Lucy Kasdin, director of Alameda County Health Care for the Homeless. But there are a number of reasons the adjustment can be difficult — even risky…