Having a house should not be a privilege; it should be a right. Every individual deserves to have a place they can come home to daily.
Beyond the four walls lies a magical dream that no one deserves to let go of. Once a family occupies a home, it becomes a memory making site. They feel a certain responsibility over this place that not everyone would understand.
Because to them, it’s not just another building that they go to work for eight hours, memories of constant typing, clientele discussions and employee-manager meetings replaying through their brain. It’s a place where their child took their first steps; a place where they almost burned the pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving Day; a place where the tiles shake with glee as they jump up and down in excitement at the mention of good news; a place they can call home.
However, for almost a decade, displacement has become a straining issue in the City of Gilroy. Large numbers of people are being displaced from their homes. Overcrowding is a significant driving cause of housing inequity.
Data from the Housing Element shows that about 1,482 households, roughly 9.2% of all households in Gilroy, were experiencing overcrowding in 2019.
It is more prevalent in Gilroy than the county as a whole. In a Santa Clara Homeless Census and survey from this year, Gilroy was found to have 702 unsheltered individuals, making it the second largest in all of Santa Clara County.
The most devastating part of it all, though, is that it’s all due to factors out of the occupant’s control. These causes include income loss, regional population and job growth without enough new housing, loss of existing affordable housing and many others. According to a recent report presented on the Community Plan to End Homelessness, during the past year, income loss caused 42% of people to experience homelessness.
That’s where these opportunity sites come into play. In my eyes, they are like a rainbow after the pouring rain. Those who are displaced face extreme struggles such as disruption to jobs, the cost of finding another place as well as moving far away, and long-term negative effects on mental health.
Opportunity sites combat these deep issues. Instead of pushing people out, they keep the door wide open, a world of life waiting on the other side. There are 40 opportunity sites in Gilroy that are currently seeking developers. According to the city’s website on displacement prevention efforts, they found vacant and underutilized areas that do not have existing residential uses.
This is an effective way to reduce the risk of displacement instead of intensifying the issue.
I first became aware of the deeper meaning and value of having a home in 2020, which was not only the year of the Covid-19 pandemic, but California’s worst wildfire season, with mor than 4.2 million acres burned and more than 11,000 structures destroyed.
As I attended virtual class in my comfortable room, filled with pictures and figures from Harry Potter, I watched as some of my classmates cried, solemn looks on their faces, sitting on uncomfortable chairs in unfamiliar motels instead of their own homes.
Today, the thought racing through my mind is that natural disasters are something that we can’t prevent. We can aim to combat them, but never get rid of them entirely. However, displacement is completely different.
It is crazy to me that the two instances are even in correlation with each other—being forced out of one’s home in order to stay safe, versus systemic inequities and issues that can actually be prevented.
Gilroy must continue to promote the development of more housing for all income levels while looking at creative policies and funding through our local control to make them more livable, access to transit, bikeable and walkable.
Dymphna (DJ) William is a junior at Dr. TJ Owens Gilroy Early College Academy, pursuing an associate’s degree in Political Science, Communications and Spanish at Gavilan College. She serves as an intern for Gilroy City Council Member Zach Hilton and as President of the Morgan Hill Youth Action Council, where she leads initiatives focused on youth engagement.
