The High Street homeless encampment in Oakland is a sprawling slum next to a Home Depot parking lot. There are tarps and tents as far as the eye can see. A United Nations official toured it recently and said it looked like shantytowns in Delhi, India. A hundred or so people live there, in shacks or trailers cobbled together from stuff found in dumpsters. There are no toilets, running water or electricity. We speak with journalist Thomas Fuller, who spent three months documenting the conditions at this camp.
The High Street homeless encampment in Oakland. Credit: Josh Haner / The New York Times.
The High Street homeless encampment in Oakland. Credit: Josh Haner / The New York Times.