@galefilterphotography

From the ❤️: “good trouble” imagery, the criminalization of homelessness. Measure O, on the November ballot, would require the city of Sacramento to create thousands of shelter beds and make it a misdemeanor for the homeless to camp on city streets if they refuse a spot in a shelter. It would also allow the city to clear groups of four or more from camping on public property. The criminalization of homelessness refers to measures that prohibit life-sustaining activities such as sleeping/camping, eating, sitting, and/or asking for money/resources in public spaces. Such ordinances include criminal penalties for violations of these acts. A 2022 count in Sacramento County revealed that the homeless population has doubled in the past three years. Out of a total of 9,278, 72% of the homeless people counted slept outdoors, not in shelters. You walk Sacramento’s city streets and it is impossible not to see homelessness and mental illness. In 2021, the Associated Press reported, “In California, a quarter of the 161,000 people experiencing homelessness also have a severe mental illness. An estimated 37,000 people pinball between nonprofits and public agencies, cycling through ERs, jails and the streets, sometimes for decades, with no one monitoring their overall care in a fractured system that nobody entirely knows how to fix.” Mack is 62 years old. Mack says he has been homeless for “as long as I can remember.” Mack sleeps where he can. He scraps to survive. “Scrappers” collect various discarded and unwanted metals (copper, aluminum, steel, etc.) and sell the metals to a recycler or scrapyard. Mack’s face provides a gritty text about helplessness, hardship, hope, pain, suffering and despair. Instead of providing aid, the city wants to make homelessness a crime. Image 2 David Puck mural @davidpuckartist. #mercypedalers #loavesfishes #encounterchurch_sacramento #showupsac #sacramento #California #916 #photojournalism #street-photography #kindness #streetlife #meanstreets #survival #homelessness #gratitude #socialjustice #poverty #streetportraits #politics #injustice #compassion #faith #hope #love #hardtimes #heat #justice #seniors #davidpuckartist