SEATTLE (AP) – A homeless crisis of unprecedented proportions is rocking the West Coast, and its victims are being left behind by the very things that mark the region’s success.
A roaring economy has sent housing costs skyrocketing. People who were once able to get by, even if they suffered a setback, are now pushed to the streets because rents have become so expensive.
Reporting by The Associated Press finds that the surge in the number of homeless people, from San Diego to Seattle, is overwhelming cities and nonprofits.
In this Oct. 30, 2017 photo, Dave Chung, who says he has been homeless for five years on the streets of California and Washington state, eats a meal before bedding down in a bus shelter in view of the Space Needle in Seattle. Chung says he has been offered shelter many times, but chooses to remain outside due to the living conditions in homeless shelters and conflicts he has with other people. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Public health is at risk, several cities have declared states of emergency, and cities and counties are spending millions – or even billions – of dollars in search of solutions.
Even nonprofit workers who have decades of experience with the homeless are shocked by the surge, calling the situation along the West Coast catastrophic.
In this Sept. 28, 2017 photo, a person sleeps under a blanket on a beach near the Ocean Beach Pier in San Diego. A homeless crisis of unprecedented proportions is rocking the West Coast, leaving elected officials and outreach workers scrambling for solutions. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
In this Sept. 25, 2017 photo, a woman who was camping in downtown San Diego sorts through her belongings on a sidewalk that was being sprayed with a bleach solution to fight a deadly hepatitis A outbreak. The increased number of hepatitis cases in the homeless population and the geographic spread of the disease led California to declare a state of emergency in October. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
In this Sept. 26, 2017 photo, a worker uses a tractor to clear a large homeless encampment in the woods near Seattle’s Ravenna Park neighborhood. Residents were given notice and offered shelter beds and other services, but some people in the encampment did not remove their belongings before the cleanup began. Seattle is just one of the cities on the West Coast facing a homeless crisis of unprecedented proportions. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
In this Oct. 12, 2017 photo, Paige Clem sits in the car she lives in along with her husband and three dogs outside a church where free food was being distributed in Everett, Wash. Clem, who said she has battled drug addiction in the past but was now clean, said having enough money just to run the heat in her car and move it when required, was a daily challenge. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
In this Sept. 25, 2017 photo, a worker sprays a bleach solution on a sidewalk in downtown San Diego as part of an effort to control a deadly hepatitis A outbreak. The increased number of hepatitis cases in the homeless population, and the geographic spread of the disease led California to declare a state of emergency in October. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
In this Oct. 30, 2017 photo, Stanley Timmings looks out of the window of the RV where he lives with his girlfriend on the streets of Seattle. Earlier in the year, the couple lost the room they were renting in a house when the owner died of cancer, and they were unable to find another room or an apartment that they could afford, so they bought the RV for $300. In Seattle, about one-third of unsheltered homeless people live in vehicles, according to recent homeless counts. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
In this Oct. 30, 2017 photo, Stanley Timmings is seen through the door of the RV where he lives with his girlfriend on the streets of Seattle. Timmings was parked just north of Boeing Field, the King County International Airport, along with a group of fellow RV-dwellers who are periodically told by the city to move their vehicles – even if just across the street – or risk having them towed away. In Seattle, about one-third of unsheltered homeless people live in vehicles, according to recent homeless counts. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
In this Oct. 30, 2017 photo, Stanley Timmings poses for a photo as he displays a picture of the Christmas-decorated fireplace mantle he had in the house where he used to live in before becoming homeless. Timmings and his girlfriend were forced to move into an RV after the owner of the home they were renting a room in died of cancer. In Seattle, about one-third of unsheltered homeless people live in vehicles, according to recent homeless counts. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
In this Sept. 20, 2017 photo, a pedestrian walks past a man sleeping on a public sidewalk in downtown Portland, Ore. Rising numbers of homeless people up and down the West Coast region of the U.S. have pushed abject poverty and issues such as addiction and mental health into the open like never before. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
In this Sept. 22, 2017 photo, deputies with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department make routine contact with people camped outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif. Hundreds of homeless people regularly sleep in the area, and deputies often stop by to offer services and check on the safety of people camped there. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
In this Sept. 18, 2017 photo, Steve, who declined to give his last name, sits with his young son and a sign asking for money near an upscale hotel in downtown Portland, Ore. Steve said that although he works, he needs to ask for money to afford nights at budget hotel away from downtown and that he has been seeking permanent housing for over a year. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
In this Sept. 19, 2017 photo, a person sleeps next to a wheelchair on a park bench in downtown Portland, Ore., not far from the city’s trendy Pearl District. A few years ago, a large influx of homeless people camping in the park led to the closure of at least one business and complaints about public drug use. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
In this Sept. 19, 2017 photo, people line up for free food being given out in an area of downtown Los Angeles known as Skid Row. Official counts taken earlier in 2017 in California, Oregon and Washington show nearly 169,000 homeless people in the three states, according to an Associated Press tally of every jurisdiction in those states that report homeless numbers to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
In this Oct. 30, 2017 photo, Ashley Dibble walks along a sidewalk in Seattle as she carries a pair of work boots to deliver to her fiance at his job at a car wash. The couple lives in Seattle’s “Navigation Center,” a 24-hour, “low-barrier” homeless shelter that offers beds even if people are abusing drugs, have a pet or want to sleep together as a couple. Dibble, who says she has been homeless off and on for about a year, is trying to find a way back into housing so she can bring her three-year-old daughter back from where she is staying with the girl’s paternal grandparents in Florida. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
In this Oct. 30, 2017 photo, Ashley Dibble poses for a photo holding her phone displaying a photo of her daughter Aeon, 3, while sitting on her bed in Seattle’s “Navigation Center,” a 24-hour, “low-barrier” homeless shelter. Dibble, who says she has been homeless off and on for about a year, is trying to find a way back into housing so she can bring her daughter back from where she is staying with the girl’s paternal grandparents in Florida. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
In this Sept. 19, 2017 photo, trash from homeless encampments lines an entrance ramp for Interstate Highway 5 in San Diego. Rising numbers of homeless people have pushed abject poverty into the open like never before up and down the West Coast, leaving elected officials and outreach workers struggling to find solutions. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
In this Sept. 18, 2017 photo, Taz Harrington, right, sleeps with his girlfriend, Melissa Ann Whitehead, on a street in downtown Portland, Ore. Harrington, who is in his 20s, said he met Whitehead, who was already homeless, online and came to Oregon to be with her even though he knew they would be sleeping outside. He said although he was hoping to find work, his girlfriend becomes anxious when he’s away, so he stays with her most of the time. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
In this Sept. 11, 2017 photo, a homeless person’s tent is pitched on a sidewalk in front of the wholesale store “Lucky Ave.,” in downtown Los Angeles. Up and down the West Coast, nonprofit and outreach workers with decades of experience are shocked by the surge in homeless people and in the banality of the ways they end up on the streets: a prolonged illness, a lost job, or a family crisis — unfortunate setbacks that for many become impossible to recover from. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.