CyberTorah

MOVE Mountain View

Give generously this Thanksgiving to MOVE Mountain View, a charity dedicated to serving those in cars, RVs and other vehicles to find safe parking and more permanent housing. Click here to donate and learn more.

Driving along El Camino, I see dozens of RVs parked. There are families living there. People with young children who have no other housing options in this area. They live out of a vehicle that may have beds, but lacks water and power hookups. The conditions fail the most basic sanitation and plumbing needs that we all take for granted in our homes, condos, and apartments. 

As I continue towards home and pass Juana Briones Park, I see 5 or 6 more such vehicles. These are smaller. I think this mini-community of RVs is made up of couples and singles. I’ve never seen children. This spot is superior in some ways because there is a bathroom in the park. No showers though. Sometimes when I run through the park early in the morning I see people exiting their vehicles to wash up and use the bathrooms before they go about their day.

Recently, the police have begun putting tow notices on the El Camino vehicles. I am only aware of one such vehicle actually being towed, but it adds to the uncertainty and confusion from these families trying to live in an RV. When the RV’s are towed, they end up impounded. Sometimes people cannot afford to get their vehicle back, and they end up truly homeless. 

Our housing crisis creates short and long term challenges. Short term, how can we create spaces for people to park their vehicles that are safe and sanitary? How can we offer social and other services to families and singles to help them get their children educated and appropriately housed? Many of these people are working; how can we help them find more stable ways to live?

MOVE Mountain View is a charity working with Mountain View and Palo Alto to provide these services. They are taking the time to get to know these communities and to care for them. Lots of Love is a program of theirs in partnership with a number of Churches and Synagogues to offer assistance in our area to people living out of their vehicles. 

This Giving Tuesday, I invite you to donate to MOVE Mountain View to offer help and social services to our neighbors. These funds will help efforts to create safe parking for those living in vehicles. They will also help offer counseling and other services to help those people to find longer term housing with sewage, sanitation, power, and running water.

Longer term, we need to address the shortage of housing in our area. With the number of jobs and people living in our area, we have an inadequate amount of housing. If we keep doing things the same, little to nothing will be resolved. I hope our cities will look at loosening zoning, especially in areas around the El Camino and rail corridor, to allow more dense housing that can begin to meet some of this need. 

I am a fan of diverse integrated communities. It is one of the things I love most about this area. I pray we find a path that will assist those currently in crisis and find a way to alleviate this crisis of housing and diversity soon and speedily.

Shabbat Shalom & Happy Thanksgiving
Rabbi David Booth

Please note there will be no CyberTorah next week in observance of Thanksgiving