After winning the 2003 mayoral election in December 2023, Newsom said that his administration would “aggressively” address homelessness in San Francisco. As part of the plan, “tens of millions” of federal dollars will be used to build 550 “supportive housing” units for the chronically homeless.
Almost 20 years have passed since the announcement of that strategy in December this year. There is still a long way to go to solve the problem in San Francisco and throughout California.
California’s political debate has become more focused on the issue of homelessness than ever before.
California GOP chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson told Fox News Digital,
Twenty years ago, then-Mayor Newsom laid out his 10-year plan to end homelessness in San Francisco. Not only does the problem remain unsolved today, but in the time since, he has taken his failures statewide, where communities across California are grappling with the devastating homeless crisis [1].
As part of his successful 2017 run for governor, Newsom pledged that he would “lead the effort to create 3.5 million new housing units by 2025.
Newsome remarked about the current homeless situation,
We need to attack the problem on multiple fronts by generating more funding for affordable housing [2].
It is estimated that 67% of California’s homeless population is unsheltered, according to a Department of Housing and Urban Development report from 2022.
The state has also spent $20 billion fighting homelessness over the last five years, according to a 2023 report.
Notes:
- ^ {Gavin Newsom’s 10-year plan to end San Francisco homelessness marks 20-year anniversary} (go back ↩)
- ^ {Let 2024 be the year we solve problems ….} (go back ↩)
