NIMBY residents in Orange County are being blamed for the homeless problem in their county by Grand Jury officials. The jury says NIMBYism in residents is leading them to ignore the homeless problem but, how could you ignore something that you come across everyday.
According to homelesshub, "NIMBY, an acronym for "Not In My Backyard," describes the phenomenon in which residents of a neighborhood designate a new development (e.g. shelter, affordable housing, group home) or change in occupancy of an existing development as inappropriate or unwanted for their local area."
Orange County Supervisor Todd Spitzer came to the defense of residents and talked about the efforts that Orange County does have implemented like an anti-overnight camping ordinance and the addition of more shelters throughout the county after a lawsuit on behalf of the homeless people who wanted to continue living next to the Santa Ana river did not want to get kicked out of their encampment.
It seems as though it is not the NIMBY residents who are the problem in Orange County but the homeless people themselves because more often than not they do not want any help.
Spitzer says he was there during the Santa Ana river trail cleanup and talked to numerous homeless individuals, urging them to use the county’s services.
"Many people told me they didn’t want the help; they liked living at the riverbed, he said. Our social workers have identified them and keep going back to ask, hoping that one day they will say “yes” to what we offer."
Workers found 315 tons of trash, 2.5 tons of hazardous waste and 13,950 hypodermic needles when the homeless encampments were cleaned up.
Spitzer said, "We don’t accept homelessness as a way of life, and we don’t enable the homeless population. We are dedicated to pulling the homeless out of that existence."
Photo: Getty Images