Homeless to housed
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Thursday, June 22nd.
We’ll hear from a family who battled homelessness and addiction and are now living under one roof. More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….
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The San Diego County Water Authority wants to increase wholesale water rates by 9-point-5 percent next year.
If approved, local water districts will likely pass that increase on to customers.
A public hearing on the proposed increase is being held today.
It’ll start at 9 a-m at the Water Authority’s office in San Diego.
It can also be livestreamed on their website.
The Water Authority Board of Directors will vote on the increase after the hearing.
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SD-G-AND-E is offering bill credits to customers who reduce their electricity use on certain days.
Customers in the Power Saver Rewards program are asked to reduce their electricity use on days when the statewide grid is stressed by high demand.
In return, customers who participate can earn a bill credit of 2-dollars per Kilowatt hour saved on their next month's bill.
A Power Saver Rewards event can be announced any day of the week from 4 to 9 p.m., between May and October.
You can apply for the program at s-d-g-e-dot-com-slash-powersaver.
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A pair of San Diego Wave F-C players will compete for Team U-S-A at the Women’s World Cup.
Yesterday, the Women’s National Team named Alex Morgan and Naomi Girma to its official roster.
It will be Morgan’s 4th World Cup appearance, and the first for Girma.
Both will be at Snapdragon Stadium Saturday night for the final Wave match before players join their respective national teams.
The Women’s World Cup will be played in New Zealand and Australia starting July 20th.
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As part of KPBS’s series on multigenerational housing in the region…
We hear from a family from northeastern Africa who overcame the hardships of homelessness and addiction…and came together under one roof in San Diego.
More on that story, after the break.
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KPBS is doing a series of stories about multiple generations living under the same roof.
Our county has one of the highest rates of multi-generational households in the country.
Reporter Scott Rodd has this story about a family from northeastern Africa, that overcame major hardships…before finding a City Heights apartment.
The Giday household is buzzing. They’re prepping an early dinner…inspired by Northeastern African cuisine. Bana [“bah-nah”] is busy roasting and grinding coffee beans……Her 10-year-old daughter Honey is grating ginger. And Grace — the family matriarch — stands by watching with pride. She offers instructions here and there, speaking both English and Tigrinya, her first language. It’s a scene that many families would take for granted…putting together a meal at the end of a busy weekday. But Grace says nothing about this moment was guaranteed. “I’m happy I live with my family again …[b-roll]… because my family, that’s all I have.” Their story is a winding journey…through homelessness, incarceration, addiction and threats of deportation…culminating in sobriety, faith and family unity. Grace’s family is originally from the country of Eritrea, but moved to Sudan due to an ongoing war. Her village was poverty-stricken…and local terrorist groups made it dangerous for girls and young women. “We didn’t have no lights, electrics, no school. They have a school but our parents were scared to send us because of they’re going to kill us, kidnap us.” She came here at 16-years-old with her husband and their one-year-old daughter, Bana. But their marriage soon crumbled. That left Grace lost in this new, unfamiliar place. She started drinking heavily … partying … searching for community and comfort in the wrong places, with the wrong crowd. “I didn’t care anymore. Because at that time I miss my family. I wanted to kill my pain.” It came at a cost. She got multiple DUIs. Child Protective Services took her children. Eventually Grace wound up living on the streets. That’s also where her daughter Bana found herself…homeless…after growing up in the foster care system and dropping out of high school. Then Bana got pregnant. “I changed my life after my daughter. I got back on my feet again after my daughter — from being homeless, from being on the street.” Bana committed to living sober. She and her mother Grace reunited…repaired their relationship…and connected over a newfound devotion to God. Fast forward about a decade. The family is off the street, and Honey…Bana’s daughter…is getting ready to start 5th grade.“[What’s the best part of living with your mom and your grandma?]”... “They’re kind and they make problems go away [laughter].” “We share this space …[b-roll]... taking care of my daughter, and me taking care of my mom, and my mom taking care of me and my daughter.” The family found an apartment in an affordable housing complex in City Heights...a coveted spot, considering the scarcity of affordable housing in the region. And now, they’re focused on helping others in need…especially people living on the streets. They collect donations…anything from adult diapers to bottled water. And Grace hands out home-cooked meals. Looking ahead, Bana hopes to find a bigger place to accommodate the family. “I hope and I pray, you know …[b-roll]... Maybe four or five bedroom apartment…something, you know, bigger…spacious [laughs]” She knows it might be tough, with runaway housing costs in San Diego. But Bana isn’t worried. She believes the family — all three generations — will live together for a long time. And that wherever they end up, it’s not the number of rooms that define a home, but the people who share the space. SOC.
TAG: To hear more of the stories from our series on multigenerational households, go to kpbs dot org slash roof.
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California’s homeless population is getting older..
A new report finds that 47 is the median age of people who are homeless in the state.
Health reporter Matt Hoffman has more on the study.
Researchers from the University of California San Francisco spoke with 32-hundred homeless Californianas to get a picture of who experiences homelessness and why. A majority said a monthly subsidy of 300-500 dollars could have prevented them from becoming homeless -- and could help get them housed again. Serving Seniors CEO Paul Downey has been advocating for a bill that would create a statewide rental subsidy program for seniors and those with disabilities.. He says especially for seniors on fixed incomes the extra money can make all the difference. Paul Downey, Serving Seniors CEO We need a statewide investment and my argument is the state is spending 3 billion a year on homelessness and look at the numbers -- they continue to go up. So how about we try something different MH KPBS News.
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In a few weeks, more than 400-employees at Qualcomm will be looking for work.
Reporter John Carroll talked to an economic expert about why Qualcomm is shedding so many jobs.
If you follow financial news, the move by qualcomm probably doesn’t come as a surprise. the company reported in may that sales of chips used in smartphones are down 17% from last year. the company’s net income fell 42% in the first quarter of this year. u-s-d economics professor alan gin says the pandemic is partly why qualcomm found itself overstaffed. “the technology companies just expanded rapidly to take advantage of the fact that people were doing things online, they needed electronic gadgets and so on. and they might have overhired.” qualcomm is also laying off 80-employees from its bay area operations. the company employs nearly 13-thousand people in san diego. jc, kpbs news.
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Coming up.... A look at the public arts scene across the border. We’ll have that story and more, just after the break.
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Construction is underway on a project that will bring housing to future UC-SD students.
Education reporter M.G. Perez tells us more.
It’s called the Ridge Walk North …billed as a 24-hundred bed residential village. It will be completed in three years…and mark another step toward solving the UC San Diego housing crisis. Construction is also beginning on the new Triton Student Center …which be home to comprehensive medical and mental health services, counseling offices…and for the first time… an Alumni and Welcome Center. All of this is part of the university’s 3-billion dollar capital improvement project…According to Robert Clossin (cl-AW-sin) the director of campus planning… “we’re going to continue where we can to add additional student beds. It’s our vision to add more housing beyond just the projects we’re talking about today. By fall 2024...another building called Pepper Canyon West will open… where a student can rent a 1-bedroom apartment for 1200 dollars…well below market price. MGP KPBS News.
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In the latest installment in our series on public art, border reporter Gustavo Solis spent time with Tijuana street artist Carlos Rodriguez.
Rodriguez says public art in Tijuana feels like a free-for-all.
Carlos Rodriguez has multiple murals in Tijuana’s Playas de Tijuana neighborhood. They use bright colors and show everything from Mexican folklore to the universe to butterflies to depict ideas of spirituality and culture. Unlike in San Diego, he says public art here doesn’t require permits or approval from public art commissions. “You show up, you paint there, the cops see that you’re not doing something that’s too weird or something they don’t like they won’t say anything.” Instead, you negotiate with individual property owners. It’s a liberating environment. But not particularly lucrative.“Sometimes they’ll tell you ‘hey I’m going to give you materials but you’re going to basically paint for free.’ There’s nothing to win there except you get to display your art in a public spot .” This lack of public funding makes it tough to make a living as an artist – Rodriguez supplements his income by working in a call center. He also sells commissioned art pieces on social media. He says Tijuana’s colorful murals are a reflection of the city’s diversity. “You get a little bit of different cultures and different backgrounds and ideas of people what they have.” Gustavo Solis, KPBS News.
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Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City opens this weekend.
It’s a film about a TV program… about a play within a play… set in a small desert town during a stargazing event.
Film critic Beth Accomando has this review.
Asteroid City feels like someone asked Wes Anderson to make the most Wes Anderson film he could imagine and this is the result. How long can they keep us in Asteroid City? Legally, I mean…. Well, I'm not an attorney, but I'd say as long as they like. It’s gorgeous to look at and is meticulously crafted, yet it also feels oddly distant and cold. There are moments that feel casually profound yet they might also just be a hollow post modernist joke. The fact that I’m not sure is both annoying and intriguing. Actor Jeffrey Wright offered this perspective on Anderson’ style. JEFFREY WRIGHT I love that he does things his own way… sometimes we make choices based on precedent, on what's come before. That must be the right way to do it. He's like, no. So I have a great deal of respect for him in that regard that he's nonconformist and that he's his own artist, his own self. But sometimes that self feels too precious and Anderson’s films feel like a souffle that might collapse at any moment. Asteroid City exists in a bubble separate from the real world. I absolutely admire the craft of the film but feel strangely removed from the characters that occupy a two-dimensional plane in Anderson’s cinematic tableaux. He’s a conundrum and that keeps me coming back to see his films and try to figure him out. Beth Accomando, KPBS News.
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That’s it for the podcast today. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great Thursday.
