SFChronicleHomelessCrisis

OAKLAND, CA - OCT. 7: Raymond Joseph, 56, poses for a portrait in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, October 7, 2020. Joseph lives at an encampment near Martin Luther King Jr. Way and W. Grand Ave. "The housing solution is to put people in prison. That's what it looks like to me," Joseph said. "How are people supposed to take care of themselves?" Oakland is in the midst of the worst homelessness crisis the city has ever seen. Overall homelessness in Oakland increased by 47% with a 68% increase from 2017 to 2019 in the number of unsheltered people from 1,902 to 3,210 people. There are an estimated 60 encampments of three or more people in Oakland with approximately 730 total people living in the encampments. (Yalonda M. James/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)