WATCH NOW: Bay Area residents respond to Mayor's program asking locals to open their homes to the homeless
Bay Area residents respond to Mayor's program asking locals to house the homeless in their own homes.
San Francisco, Calif. – Bay Area residents said they would not open their homes to help alleviate the homeless crisis.
The mayor of Richmond, a city about 20 miles from downtown San Francisco, recently started a program that would pay landlords through private funding to house homeless individuals. There are about 35,000 people experiencing homelessness in the Bay Area, up from 28,000 in 2017, according to a report by the Bay Area Economic Institute.
"Would I open up a spare room for a homeless person? Probably not," one San Francisco resident, Milo, told Fox News.
Another person, Scott, said: "Would I? I don't have a room in my apartment."
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One Bay Area resident, Nichole, told Fox News: "I don't know how they're going to fix the homeless problem, but I just think that asking the residents to step up is not a good idea."
"I have a family and I have girls," she added. "I just don't think that it's safe."
Nichole speaks with Fox News Digital.
One man, Paul, said: "I think that's asking a lot of people."
A local named Cecil said he would be open to providing housing for the homeless.
"If I had the credential and I had the credibility, yes, I would take someone off the street," he told Fox News.
Having experienced homelessness himself, Cecil said it is important to recognize each individual's situation is unique.
Caio, who has lived in the city for four years, told Fox News: "I would not open my house – where I feel protected – to a stranger. It just doesn't make sense."
"This is one of the richest cities in the world … and they cannot find a solution to do to deal with homeless people," he continued. "That is unacceptable."
A person lays in the grass at Maritime Garden in San Francisco
Residents said the government is responsible for solving the crisis.
"This is a federal emergency situation," Milo said. "This is a FEMA situation. It's a government situation. It's a government problem."
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Tony, a lifelong San Franciscan, told Fox News: "I think it's more of a mental health issue than people not having shelter because even with the shelter, people will still be out in the streets. It's more like a drug problem."
Since 2020, over 1,300 overdose deaths have been recorded in San Francisco, outnumbering deaths from COIVD-19, according to city officials.
Steve said the government has not helped enough to fix the homeless crisis.
A person lies on the sidewalk near downtown San Francisco.
"Young kids come in here and shooting up heroin in doorways and stuff, and where they going? The city, they don't want to help," he said.
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Caio said the government isn't "doing anything."
"During those last two years it has been, I feel like, double the size of homeless people due to COVID," he said.
Scott added: "It's going to take just continually thinking of fresh ideas and trying to throw different solutions at it and see what sticks."
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