Jerome Shaw

I have written about many experiences with HomeFirst. Most of the time it concerned the nonprofit’s rules and policies, and the negative effects these have had on its clients. Many unhoused advocates knew of these effects long before I did, and they tried to get people to listen and give the unhoused a voice. I witnessed some of the impacts first hand as a resident and tried to be a voice for the unhoused since we often don’t have one.

I am an individual who, like many other people, has a convoluted history of mental health and physical medical conditions, and utilize medications to offset the complications associated with these conditions. In addition to being neurodivergent, I also have attention deficit disorder or ADD. This isn’t attention hyperactivity deficit disorder or ADHD, because I don’t have hyperactivity. I just have the inattentiveness, aloofness and distractibility.

Like so many others, I am against San Jose’s current Measure E budget proposal to reallocate affordable housing funds for homeless services. The reasons being: 1. Tiny homes do not offer permanent housing and are not a solution to homelessness. They are tiny shelters in a communal environment, with gates and security guards. Any place where you don’t have a refrigerator, kitchen or bathroom under the same roof as your dwelling isn’t a home. These locations would also be run by nonprofits. 2.