Civil Engineers need to be rallying against the oppression that is being placed on our unhoused communities. American engineers regularly apply their problem-solving skills to improving the human condition and quality of life. But when it comes to one of the most pressing social problems in the nation’s cities—our homeless population. The most visible examples of Civil Engineering are often ones that deprive these individuals of comfortable places to rest and sleep. These range from “no-sit benches” that you can only lean against to strategically placed rocks embedded in flat surfaces to the use of uncomfortable material to fences put up to block homeless encampments. Daily impediments reinforce what some unhoused people see as a callous attitude on the part of authorities and engineers who work under their lead.
Today, #SCOTUS gave localities permission to punish unhoused community members simply for existing outdoors, even when there aren’t enough shelter beds available. Now, our leaders must truly lead, modeling meaningful solutions instead of cheap, cruel & unsustainable shortcuts that only obscure our problems at the expense of our most vulnerable neighbors. Homelessness is not a crime, it’s a policy choice. The only way to address homelessness is to house people and to keep people housed. #GrantsPassVJohnson
Ph.D. - Materials Engineering
2moWell said, Ash.