An executive order issued by California Gov. Gavin Newsom on July 25 authorized state, city and county agencies to remove unsafe homeless encampments while offering support and assistance after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Grant Pass v. Johnson.

Local students and faculty spoke to The Connection regarding their experience with homeless individuals and the impact of the executive order.

Eighteen-year-old biochemistry major Sahil Gokul said he has noticed less homelessness on the street.

“If there’s less people on the street, it would help everyone out,” Gokul said. “The streets would be cleaner, everyone would have a job and the economy would be better.”

Gokul said government resources will help people find somewhere safe while getting established with a job or school.

Brett Tahquechi, an 18-year-old film studies major, said he sees homeless individuals when walking in Elk Grove or going home from his classes.

“Yesterday I was walking to Target and I saw this one homeless lady just laying on the ground with her two dogs,” Tahquechi said.

Tahquechi said he was minding his business while crossing the street when a homeless woman with a shopping cart began yelling.

“If they are getting the people off the streets that actually need to get off the streets that actually need the help and want the help, then I think it would be good,” Tahquechi said.

Jaylie Gianatasio, a 20-year-old behavioral science major, said homeless individuals need resources. Gianatasio and her mother have given homeless individuals phones through her mother’s company.

“Some of them did not want the shelters; some of them do and they need those resources,” Gianatasio said.

Gianatasio said the most beneficial way to help is spreading knowledge to the homeless.

“A lot of them might not have the resources to have the knowledge on whether these shelters are taking place,” Gianatasio said.

English Professor Heather Hutcheson said she frequently emphasizes in her classes the importance of giving back to the community by offering service opportunities like the Elk Grove Food Bank to her students.

“I look at my unhoused neighbors as people who we need to greet and accommodate as much as possible because I think it benefits all of us,” Hutcheson said. “We talk about how it benefits the giver as well as the receiver and when I help someone in my community find shelter, it makes the world a little bit safer for all of us.”

On the two coldest nights in January, Hutcheson said she volunteered with the organization The Point-in-Time Count and counted the homeless individuals in her community.

“One of the people we came across in January had a broken back and was still making it out on the street,” Hutcheson said. “We were able to connect him with a nurse who could come out and be helpful.”

Despite the man’s condition, he was still willing to talk, sharing where he came from and how his current situation arose, Hutcheson said.

“Opportunities to get to learn from the people that are out in our streets and why they’re in the situations they’re in are illuminating and knowledge only makes us stronger,” Hutcheson said.