SAN JOSE, Calif. ( KRON ) – Homelessness across the nation has increased by more than 100,000 people within the last year. In Santa Clara County, nearly 10,000 people are unhoused.
The new numbers come as hundreds of unhoused people will have their encampments swept starting next week. A notice is posted along a several-mile-long stretch of Coyote Creek saying sweeps will start in the new year.
“These people are down on their luck. Lost houses, jobs, loved ones. They are not criminals, they are people that life has dealt a bad hand,” said local homeless activist Shaunn Cartwright.
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Cartwright has been spending her holiday telling the hundreds of people along Coyote Creek they need to get moving. The Silicon Valley Water Board recently approved a ban on all camping along their waterways, citing safety and hygiene concerns.
The ban starts Jan. 2, but it’s unclear how quickly law enforcement will force people out of their tents.