Letters: Tap tech companies to fund more interim housing

"With city, county and state budgets in the red, it's obvious that we need to think outside of the box to fund homelessness programs. Local corporations are an untapped resource. Why aren't we pushing Apple, Alphabet, Meta, Nvidia, Intel, Cisco and Adobe to more funding to emergency interim housing sites? Signage can proudly display their corporate names to advertise their goodwill, which could create some competition among them. Most of the companies mentioned are good citizens and already donate millions to food banks - a very worthwhile cause. However, so is sheltering the unhoused, but with a far greater positive visual impact. Getting the homeless off the streets into temporary housing helps the individual while improving the city and county's image."

"Nicolas Kristof's article is a very laudable read about valuing "human capital" and education of the masses. He also expresses why we are not doing it in the United States. The Democratic Party has been working for decades to use tax revenue to support our public education system. On the other hand, the Republican Party invariably works to cut taxes for the rich, which consequently depletes funding for schools. Defunding schools weakens the workforce. It is no mystery why our economic competition is struggling against Asian countries."

"President Trump, under the guidance of Stephen Miller, has led the U.S. into a quagmire for our foreign policy. It began with first among equals (our allies), then with Isolationism, and then to autocrats' detente. Trump is now proposing an FY27 Department of War budget of $1.5 trillion, which will lead to a prime bully policy, whereby we accept that other nations may bully the rest of the world, as long as everyone acknowledges us as the biggest, baddest bully of them al"

Local technology corporations can be recruited to fund emergency interim housing, with corporate signage offering visible goodwill and potential competition among firms. Corporate donations to shelters could complement existing food-bank contributions and move unhoused individuals into temporary housing, improving both individual outcomes and municipal image. Public education funding sustained by tax revenue is essential to maintain workforce strength, while repeated tax cuts for the wealthy risk defunding schools and weakening economic competitiveness. Proposed large defense budgets and a confrontational foreign policy risk turning the United States into an international bully and undermining alliances.

Read at The Mercury News