Jared Klickstein

That's what they gave me. That was the street name. I mean, they call me white boy at first and then I gained their respect. They call me Oakland. And we did it. We did it on Skid Row for like – that run was probably like six, seven months. I did like a six, seven-month run on Skid Row.

That's what they gave me. That was the street name. I mean, they call me white boy at first and then I gained their respect. They call me Oakland. And we did it. We did it on Skid Row for like – that run was probably like six, seven months. I did like a six, seven-month run on Skid Row.

I'm just going to be honest and base it off my experience. The vast majority of people I encountered, and I encountered maybe thousands of people, drugs and or mental illness was the vast majority. Um, and that doesn't mean that, you know, there were people down there that were mentally ill that weren't drug addicts, but there was a lot of people that were just drug addicts.

I'm just going to be honest and base it off my experience. The vast majority of people I encountered, and I encountered maybe thousands of people, drugs and or mental illness was the vast majority. Um, and that doesn't mean that, you know, there were people down there that were mentally ill that weren't drug addicts, but there was a lot of people that were just drug addicts.

And then there was a lot of people that were mentally ill as a result of their drug addiction. Um, but when you're down there and you're homeless, like if you were to ask me in 2011, why are you homeless? I would have said, well, my family doesn't care about me. That's what I would have said. I wouldn't have said I'm because I'm a meth head and a heroin addict. So, um,

And then there was a lot of people that were mentally ill as a result of their drug addiction. Um, but when you're down there and you're homeless, like if you were to ask me in 2011, why are you homeless? I would have said, well, my family doesn't care about me. That's what I would have said. I wouldn't have said I'm because I'm a meth head and a heroin addict. So, um,

People have these stories in their head of, oh, I lost a job. Well, why did you lose the job? Were you smoking crack? That's a lot of it. Now, people do become homeless because they lose their job, or maybe they get sick or something. A lot of these people end up living in their cars, or they end up living on a couch of a friend or a family member, and they get back on their feet.

People have these stories in their head of, oh, I lost a job. Well, why did you lose the job? Were you smoking crack? That's a lot of it. Now, people do become homeless because they lose their job, or maybe they get sick or something. A lot of these people end up living in their cars, or they end up living on a couch of a friend or a family member, and they get back on their feet.

There are a lot of resources for these sorts of people. There's not enough, but these are the easiest kinds of homeless people to help. And when you see a guy running around at McDonald's with his pants down screaming, I mean, that guy didn't lose his accounting job. You know, that guy's on drugs.

There are a lot of resources for these sorts of people. There's not enough, but these are the easiest kinds of homeless people to help. And when you see a guy running around at McDonald's with his pants down screaming, I mean, that guy didn't lose his accounting job. You know, that guy's on drugs.

And we have to stop lying to ourselves that, like, you know, the vast majority of the visible homeless people are there because of some kind of economic circumstance. I'm not saying that there aren't economic circumstances that cause people to become homeless, but this is the harsh reality of it.

And we have to stop lying to ourselves that, like, you know, the vast majority of the visible homeless people are there because of some kind of economic circumstance. I'm not saying that there aren't economic circumstances that cause people to become homeless, but this is the harsh reality of it.

I think that people in charge of California, the government, are kind of playing it by ear. They're playing a lot of things by ear. They're really concerned with just getting to the next election. Solving the problem is going to require a lot of work, and they don't want to work. You know, they've outsourced this to nonprofits entirely.

I think that people in charge of California, the government, are kind of playing it by ear. They're playing a lot of things by ear. They're really concerned with just getting to the next election. Solving the problem is going to require a lot of work, and they don't want to work. You know, they've outsourced this to nonprofits entirely.

In my history of becoming homeless from 2011 to when I got off the streets in 2018, by the end, it was completely outsourced to nonprofits. What do you mean by that? Meaning the handling of homelessness and addiction services, the budgets. For example, San Francisco had a budget of $1.1 billion in 2023 to address homelessness, and the vast majority of that was not handled by the state.

In my history of becoming homeless from 2011 to when I got off the streets in 2018, by the end, it was completely outsourced to nonprofits. What do you mean by that? Meaning the handling of homelessness and addiction services, the budgets. For example, San Francisco had a budget of $1.1 billion in 2023 to address homelessness, and the vast majority of that was not handled by the state.

It was pushed and given to nonprofits. that don't have a lot of oversight, that the incentives are wrong. I mean, their incentive is to get more money from the state. I mean, their incentive isn't to solve homelessness. So, yeah, you know, that's really it.

It was pushed and given to nonprofits. that don't have a lot of oversight, that the incentives are wrong. I mean, their incentive is to get more money from the state. I mean, their incentive isn't to solve homelessness. So, yeah, you know, that's really it.

One City Rising is an example of one.

One City Rising is an example of one.