The gathering at a Motel 6 parking lot in Pittsburg turned into a collision course over homelessness, soaring COVID-19 stats and Black Lives Matter.
RELATED: Coronavirus Impact: SF resident feels like prisoner in own home as homeless tents triple
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The governor talked about how successful California has been in getting the homeless housed during the pandemic.
"We worked with FEMA to develop a partnership under Project Room Key that allowed us to move forward procuring hotel rooms like this in Pittsburg so we can get people off of the streets," he said.
So far Project Room Key has taken over 293 hotels in California, that's over 15,000 hotel rooms occupied by 14,200 of the formerly homeless.
Among the supporters was a dialysis social worker who interacts with several of the residents at the motel.
RELATED: Stricter stay-at-home restrictions coming before July 4, Newsom says
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Sarah Burkhead said, "When I ask my patients whether they have a cut-off date and they're going to be kicked out they said no they were just told till COVID ends"
But there were enraged homeless citizens who never got a coveted hotel room. like Kathryn Wade.
"If I was a white woman would you have told me to go to the Richmond Rescue Mission? I'm tired of the systemic racism around here," Wade said.
Wade used a bullhorn to get her message across as the governor ventured into grim coronavirus statistics with positive cases and hospitalization rates on a steep rise in California.
The governor said he was planning to "raise the alarm bells" on Wednesday, making new announcements about the upcoming Fourth of July weekend, especially in regards to family gatherings.
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