Two weeks ago, after I missed my Amtrak train by three minutes, I noticed that my wallet was also missing. I couldn’t be more panicked. I felt like I would not be able to come back from Los Angeles to San Diego. My friend booked the next ticket for me, and I called all my card companies for the next three hours. However, our destinations were different, so he lent me his debit card to use temporarily.

I was dropped off the bus with my backpack and tried to take an Uber, but the card didn’t work. There were no buses or trolleys to my home at 1 a.m. The people who got off the bus with me were already gone, and all I could sense was the cold wind blowing, an unidentified sound of a machine, and homeless people wandering around like ghosts. It was intimidating to think that I might have to spend the night there. I was totally alone.

Homelessness was one of the most shocking problems I witnessed when I arrived in the U.S. I didn’t know the long line of tents under the highway was normal. The scenery on the street is quite different compared to Korea. The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) described the number of homeless people in Korea as 8,956 in 2021. This is 0.018% of the total population. In contrast with 2016, the rate has declined by 21%.

The reason why homeless people declined is not certain, but MOHW assumed it is because of the systematization of policies and expansion of welfare. Now, Korea begins to construct policies that consider the demographics of homeless people like age, gender, health, etc.

According to the OECD Affordable Housing Database, the number of homeless in the U.S. of the total population was 0.18% in 2020. Especially in California, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s report says that California is ranked highest with 161,548 homeless people¹ in 2020.

What causes homelessness in the U.S.? There are various reasons for homelessness but following the discussion of a pair of researchers in their University of California book, “Homelessness is a housing problem,” they had “lack of affordable housing” as the biggest reason. To solve this problem, State Sen. Catherine Blakespear, formerly the mayor of Encinitas, tweeted yesterday that Encinitas has gotten its act together when it comes to housing laws.

Institutional discussions are also underway about the homelessness issue. On March 14, the County Board of Supervisors meeting was held. They voted on a new program that would track the number of available shelter beds using a mobile network at any given time, so people who are victims of domestic abuse, violence, and human trafficking would know where an accessible emergency shelter was.

Additionally, San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan announced that her office is addressing the intersection of homelessness and crime by leading the effort to help technology that can quickly locate suitable shelter beds for individuals experiencing homelessness, improving on the process that’s currently in place. The proposed technology would mobilize a more efficient county response, providing access to comprehensive and centralized information about the capacity, quantity, and availability of shelter beds and services across the county².

“Criminalizing homelessness does not solve the problem,” wrote John Raphling, from Human Rights Watch. “It makes suffering more brutal and drives people living on the streets further into the shadows.”

That day, I arrived home safely in my friend’s car. Luckily, the Uber driver returned my wallet later that day. However, all kinds of bad thoughts, like freezing or starving to death, passed by in my head for 20 minutes while waiting. It was a trip that I survived with the help of others. I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to my friends once again.

Homelessness is directly connected to the human rights issue. Hopefully, the homelessness issue will get better little by little with everyone’s attention like how my friends took care of me.

Juri Kim is an international intern for San Diego Community Newspaper Group.