Homeless in San José

By Gabe Thompson

This article appeared in the August 20, 2001 edition of The Nation.

August 9, 2001

It's a hot day, and I'm sitting in the backyard of the First Christian Church in downtown San José with Eduardo Zamora, who cleans the church and lives in the small utility shed in front of me. First Christian has been running an illegal homeless shelter with an organization called CHAM, the Community Homeless Alliance Ministry. As we talk an old car pulls up around the side and a young Latino hops out, shirtless and carrying a collapsed crib. He calls for Eduardo to let him through the gate, stashes the crib behind some bushes and leaves.

"You see?" Eduardo tells me in Spanish. "When I was a kid I never had to live on the streets, not even in Mexico."

I ask him what he thinks should be done about the problem.

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About Gabe Thompson

Gabe Thompson is completing his degree in "History, Social Change, and the Radical Tradition" at the Johnston Center for Integrative Studies, University of Redlands, in California. more...
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