A federal judge has temporarily halted the clearance of a homeless encampment in Berkeley, allowing disabled residents to stay. The city had planned to clear the camp due to health concerns but faced pushback from advocacy groups highlighting the needs of individuals with disabilities. Nonprofit leader Ian Cordova Morales emphasized the importance of recognizing these individuals' challenges, and the ruling brings relief as the city is now tasked with providing support and shelter. However, uncertainty remains for the long-term future of these residents.
'We've been fighting for a long time for any kind of recognition of the ADA throughout this whole thing,' said Ian Cordova Morales, president of Where Do We Go. 'That's the big piece people don't seem to be grasping, is that all of our people out there are experiencing some kind of disability, a physical disability - we've got people in wheelchairs, mental health disabilities.'
The judge's ruling comes as a relief for groups like 'Where Do We Go,' a nonprofit working with people on the streets. 'It's good for us and for the people who are there because it means that we don't have to go all over town trying to find them or losing them forever,' said Cordova Morales.
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