Homeless Advocate Thinks a Sanctuary Camp Would Help Santa Cruz

Filmmaker and homeless advocate Brent Adams put together this video suggesting that Santa Cruz look into another alternative for the homeless problem plaguing the city and county.

With more than 2,700 people living on the streets and beds for only a few hundred, Adams has proposed that Santa Cruz look into setting up a camp like those already in Portland, Seattle and Ann Arbor.

His film shows why: with no beds, many homeless people are forced to camp out with no bathrooms or garbage cans. They foul the spaces they inhabit and have caused a great uproar from local groups tired of the pollution, trash and needles.

The sanctuary camps in other cities have rules, curfews and are drug free. They are run with minimal expense.

Adams, who is more an activist than a journalist, has created a persuasive argument for such a camp in this film. He asked the city council to consider the proposal last Tuesday.

Will this argument sway those who claim that if there are no services, homeless people will simply move to another city?