What Homelessness Is Really Like
Slate News
Slate Podcasts
4.5 • 6K Ratings
🗓️ 12 July 2023
⏱️ 31 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Despite holding only twelve percent of Americans, the state of California is home to nearly one-third of the nation’s people experiencing homelessness. A landmark study from UCSF—the California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness— produced an intimate look at who is living on the streets and in their cars in California, how they got there, and what actual aid would look like.
Guests:
Claudine Sipili, co-leader of UCSF’s Lived Expertise Advisory Board for the California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness.
Ethan Ward, founder of HEATDRAWN Media, and the host of Reputation, a podcast which challenges preconceived notions about the homelessness crisis.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Sometimes running a business can feel like cycling uphill with square wheels. |
| 0:07.0 | But zero online accounting software can help predict the future cash flow of your business. |
| 0:15.0 | So you can stay one step ahead. Soon it'll feel more like free-wearing downhill. |
| 0:21.0 | On a tandem! What, mate? With a messer on the back. |
| 0:25.0 | Oh, that's nice. |
| 0:26.0 | Search zero with an ace, because healthy business is beautiful business. |
| 0:36.0 | Here are some of the things Claudine Cipoli has heard folks say about homeless people in California. |
| 0:42.0 | She's heard them say homeless people are too lazy to work. |
| 0:45.0 | She's heard them say homeless people are just looking for money for drugs. |
| 0:56.0 | So, it's a lot of mostly the same thing. It's like a recording on loop, right? |
| 1:05.0 | Sometimes Claudine hears these kinds of sentiments from friends. Sometimes from elected officials. |
| 1:11.0 | That's when, if she can, she'll toss them a conversational bomb. |
| 1:19.0 | I get offended, I have a smile on my face, and then I let them know. |
| 1:24.0 | I may not look like it, but I've been one of those people. |
| 1:33.0 | It was 15 years ago that Claudine ended up on the street. |
| 1:37.0 | She actually lived in her car for a while, then the repo man came. |
| 1:42.0 | The main thing Claudine remembers from that time is how invisible she felt. |
| 1:47.0 | She talks about walking down the sidewalk and getting the distinct impression. |
| 1:51.0 | She was one level lower than a human being. |
| 1:54.0 | Things are really different now. Claudine is comfortable, but she thinks back on that invisible feeling a lot. |
| 2:02.0 | She wants to shatter it. |
| 2:04.0 | So, a few months back, when she got this invitation to help researchers study California's homelessness crisis, |
... |
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