It breaks my heart to walk through downtown these days. Having spent so much time living and working there since the early 2000s, and now returning just to visit friends and family, I can honestly say I have never seen the despair run this deep.
I remember asking my friend after COVID if the streets had always been this full of homeless people with nowhere to go, and we both realized how rapidly things were deteriorating. He told me in 2023, there was just one familiar face on his street. By the time he moved, there were 12 people living just yards from his building's entrance, and another gentle woman who would sleep on his stoop. She never bothered him and always slipped away before sunrise, but her silent presence was a heavy reminder of how much the poverty was quietly, undeniably exploding around his apartment. Now, the numbers are finally reflecting that tragic reality.
When you look at the systemic failures, it is just devastating. The state’s Volver al Trabajo plan offers a single person without children a mere $78,000 pesos to survive on, and even that is tied to a strict 70% attendance requirement for skills classes. It is deeply sad to realize that this isn't even enough to cover basic groceries for a single adult. How can we possibly expect someone to sit in a classroom and learn when their stomach is empty and their bed is the cold pavement?
The hardest part is the sinking feeling that this suffering is only going to deepen. With the administration shifting this program to be strictly training-based, cutting off what little financial lifeline was left, people will soon struggle to even buy a simple sandwich to get through the day. It is a tragedy unfolding in slow motion, leaving the most vulnerable completely abandoned.
www.batimes.com.ar
