San Diego 101: 3 Myths About Homelessness

By Maya Srikrishnan, the Voice of San Diego

February 1, 2022

It’s impossible to ignore San Diego’s homelessness crisis. Between 2019 and 2020 there was a 21 percent increase in people experiencing homelessness in San Diego County, according to the Regional Task Force on Homelessness.

That was before the pandemic.

But homelessness – and what causes it – is complex and sometimes our own assumptions about people who experience homelessness keep us from fully understanding it.

Our latest San Diego 101 episode tackles some of the most common myths we hear about homelessness.

Hosts Adriana Heldiz and Maya Srikrishnan look at why it’s harder to get housed than people think, explain how most people who are homeless are not suffering from mental illness or substance abuse and how despite what we want to believe, anyone can experience homelessness.

To do this, Heldiz and Srikrishnan tap VOSD’s resident homelessness expert, Lisa Halverstadt, and Dr. Margot Kushel, who leads UC San Francisco’s Center for Vulnerable Populations. They also interview two people with lived homelessness experience – DeForrest Hancock and Destry Whitney.

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