The misery of São Paulo becomes a portrait of growing inequality

Brazil’s wealthiest city has seen the multiplication of poverty in its landscape.

Even areas once considered noble in the city, like Avenida Paulista, have been invaded by many people living on the sidewalks and squares.

Camped in tents, with canvas or cardboard shacks, or even wrapped only in old blankets, Brazilians seek shelter in the cold nights of the São Paulo state capital.

It is a common situation in other capitals, but in the country’s most prosperous city, it impresses with its dimensions.

A misery that, when reflected by the mirrored ultra-modern skyscrapers, seems to emphasize the discouragement in which these citizens live.

According to data from the census of the street population conducted by the city of São Paulo, after certain stability between 2009 and 2015, the number of homeless people in the city has been growing sharply.

In 2015, the population living on the streets, excluding those in shelters, was 8,570.

In 2021, the latest available data, São Paulo City already had 19,209 people living on the streets and 12,675 homeless people.

It is an almost 125% increase among low-income Paulistanos (São Paulo residents).

But the material misery that often deprives these people of shelter prevents them from achieving the minimum subsistence conditions.

Hunger is what draws the most attention. This evil is remedied, in part, by public actions and by entities that assist this population.

One of these entities is the Pastoral of the Street People, coordinated by the Catholic priest Júlio Lancellotti, who prepares breakfast and lunch daily for about 700 people.

During the period with the lowest temperatures, between May and September, a team of volunteers almost every day goes out with the soup kitchen.

When the temperature promises to approach 10ºC, they mobilize. Besides providing food, the initiative seeks to avoid the risk of hypothermia in the homeless population.

On one of these cold nights in São Paulo, the Correio followed the work of these volunteers in the city center.

CITY HALL RECOGNIZES THE CRISIS AND SAYS IT IS TAKING MEASURES

The Municipal Secretariat of Assistance and Social Development (SMADS) of the São Paulo City Hall attributes the misery in the capital city to the economic crisis and the cut in investments.

According to the portfolio holder, Carlos Bezerra Jr., the City Hall has sought to build new policies to welcome this population.

When the expansion of poverty was perceived, the City Hall anticipated the census of the street population for the year 2021. The survey indicated a worrying increase in families on the city streets.

According to the census, the growth was on the order of 111% compared to the previous measurement of 2019. The study verified 5,200 families in street situations in the city in 2021.

As for the proliferation of tents on the city’s flowerbeds, squares, and sidewalks, the secretary pointed out that the growth was 333% of these dwellings in the city.

The new data is that these structures are geographically scattered in areas not usually used by street populations.

Bezerra believes that, with the pandemic, the population has shown more “tolerance” to families in situations of social vulnerability.

Bezerra Jr. makes some observations about the miserable people of São Paulo. “Usually, people who have been on the streets for less than two years care for physical and family self-preservation.

But, as the years go by, people are subjected to a series of violence and lose that strong sense of preservation, and we see people sleeping in the streets,” he pointed out.

Questioned about the city’s actions to remove the shacks, he pondered that it is not his responsibility but that “the city’s orientation is to respect the shacks as a significant part of those people’s lives”.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Bezerra Jr. says that the City Hall has acted to reduce the problem. According to SMADS data, São Paulo is the city that proportionally has more beds for the homeless population in the country.

He also informs that the city is expanding the offer of services in new Reception Centers, which now have options segmented by the public, with specific units for men, families, women, and transsexual women, among other public facilities.

The secretary also says that the city hall is expanding the hotel rental contracts. He predicts that, by the end of the year, the offer of beds will rise from 1,700 to 3,300 units for the street population.

This help is in addition to the 3,000 new permanent dwellings in the city’s housing program.

He says there are no simple answers for a complete solution: “We are talking about a highly complex issue, which goes through several administrations.

One of the reasons for this is that São Paulo is an attractive city for people to look for jobs. So, even with the city government’s service actions, there are always more people in vulnerability.

Statistics show that 60% of homeless people in São Paulo come from outside the city.

With information from Correio Braziliense