Uno de los numerosos impactos que tuvo la pandemia de COVID-19 en la población en los campos de la salud, la economía y la sociedad ha sido el fuerte aumento del número de personas sin hogar entre los latinos. En cualquier noche de 2022, había en Estados Unidos más de 130.000 latinos sin casa, 8% más […]
Author Archives: Dalma Diaz
Dalma Diaz, MA is a Health Equity Fellow working at the intersection of Homelessness & Health Care at the California Health Care Foundation. Diaz also is a Public Voices Fellow of The OpEd Project in partnership with Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative.
Posted inOpinion
COMMENTARY: Latinos must fight for housing justice
In 2022, on any given night in the U.S., there were over 130,000 people who identify as Latino experiencing homelessness, up 8% from 2020. In California, the numbers are even more staggering, as the total number of unhoused Latinx Californians increased by 22% in the same period.
Yet, as a community—many Latinx seem to believe that homelessness could never happen to us. Strong family and social support are often cited as the main reasons for why that’s the case.
I’ve certainly heard as much in my own community in East Los Angeles, despite rising rental costs and displacement. Indeed, more than two thirds of Latinxs polled in 2021 said they were “not too worried” or “not at all worried” about experiencing a period of homelessness in California.