David King is sleeping on the couch across the street. Human Service Campus
I watch people go in and out of shelters on campus. A community of people suffering from the same problem of homelessness live in tents that line the streets surrounding the shelter.
King said he lived on the streets and worked as a pastor in a shelter for 17 years. Drug addiction led him to live on the streets, but he began to help others by finding God.
“Some people want to get out here because something is going on in their life, or they’re going through something, and it takes time to relax,” King said.
under Arizona SB 1413, the King and others living outside the shelter would dismantle their homes. The bill requires cities and towns to demolish homeless encampments and charge the individuals or people living there for trespassing if they are on private property.
“I sponsored SB 1413 because Tucson and the entire Pima County are suffering from an excess of homelessness,” said Senator Justine Wadsack of R-Tucson.
Wadsak said in an interview that business owners and homeowners in her district are fed up with the lack of action regarding the encampment.
“Don’t walk out of a four-star restaurant and find human feces on your doorstep,” Wadsak said, adding that business owners should ask employees to clean up human excrement, trash and encampments. He pointed out that he raised the issue of having to come out earlier. Private homeowners complain about homeless people living in arroyos and back alleys, she said.
Wadsak said Tucson and Pima County will continue to work toward a solution even if the bill doesn’t pass. All 16 voted for the bill, and not a single Democrat voted for it. It’s now headed to the House, but even if it passes the House, it would be hard to get Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs through.
Senators Anna Hernandez, D-Marievale, are opposing the bill.
“I think Senate Bill 1413 is cracking down on our homeless neighbors. “It offers no solutions and no services.”
Hernandez said it would be better to spend time creating policies that help people and finding out why people are experiencing homelessness.
“Let’s deal with rents, inadequate housing, inadequate shelter space and adequate wraparound services,” Hernandez said. “Let’s look at why these things are happening and put resources into it, so these problems are invisible.”
Hernandez said the bill was written without compassion.
“We need to help people, and it’s a cost. The reality is that if you invest those resources to find a solution, it costs less than criminalizing people and putting them in jail.” Hernandez said, the problem contributes to the problem of increasing homelessness.
“We need to work on managing rents. We need to work on why people can’t access housing in the first place and let’s see some ideas on that,” said Hernandez.
According to the Arizona Department of Economic Security’s 2022 Arizona Homelessness Annual Report, there were 13,553 people experiencing homelessness in Arizona in January 2022. Number of homeless people at a specific point in time was implemented, up nearly 25% from 2020.
King said the Senate bill was unfair to him and others not detained and that there are other solutions.
“If they buy and have more space for homeless people, it will be a really big solution to help homeless people. It’s helping us,” said King. said.
A woman, who lives in a tent outside the Human Services campus, said on condition of anonymity that tearing down the tents and arresting people would not help.
“Some people have lost their jobs, their homes, their families, so just putting them in jail or taking away their homes is not a good solution,” she said.
She urged legislators to see the problem for themselves and listen to the people. She supported those experiencing homelessness and urged them to get the help they needed rather than arrest them.
Some people are just out of luck, but “some people come here and ask for help,” she said. We’ve come, but there are a lot of homeless people, so it will take time for the whole shelter to help all of us here.”
