A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness
Modern homelessness has unfolded in two chapters in the United States. The first chapter was of course the Great Depression, a period of displacement and poverty that was corrected for by a mass investment in housing and the passage of the Housing Act of 1949that guaranteed decent housing for impoverished people. The second chapter opened in 1983, when Ronald Reagan eliminated 76% of the federal housing budget and abandoned the commitment made by that same Housing Act.
interview by Christian Jiminez
Emergency Housing Vouchers (EHV) are federal rental assistance vouchers authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to help individuals and families who are homeless, at-risk of homelessness, or fleeing domestic violence. Administered by the department of Housing and urban Development (HUD)through local housing authorities, these vouchers provide long-term, tenant-based rental subsidies for private market housing. The program was intended to run through 2030.
Street Speak is a podcast of Street Sheet. The following excerpt is from Episode 22, a conversation between Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness, the San Francisco-based homeless advocacy organization that produces the podcast, and Anya Worley-Ziegmann, coalition coordinator of the People’s Budget Coalition. To listen to the entire interview, go to streetsheet.org/street-speak-podcast or the platform where you listen to podcasts.
This interview is edited for brevity and clarity.
by Tiny
Police car outside 71st Avenue safe parking sites in Oakland, which has since closed down.
Closure of small house community forces several previously unhoused residents back to the streets
“They said we have to leave … today … I’ve been here for four years and I’ve never received help or resources or even a referral of someone to talk to about housing” said Dennis houseless resident of Third and Peralta tiny home community.
by Lukas Illa
San Francisco community based-organizations enter another city budget cycle with great uncertainty of whether their core programs will exist in four months time. With Mayor Daniel Lurie’s Austerity First budget (my words, not his), San Francisco is once again electing to siphon funding for working-class communities of color to pad law enforcement agencies’ already bloated budgets.
The People’s Budget Coalition has tracked a combination of $62 million expected cuts to the Department of Public Health (DPH),
by Lupe Velez
Proposed changes to decision-making and advisory bodies might tilt the balance of power in favor of the Mayor’s Office. Creative Commons image by Blaine A. White.
In the latest development regarding the future of the city’s commissions and committees, Mayor Daniel Lurie and Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman proposed three ballot propositions that boost executive power this month. If these measures pass,
by Lukas Illa
In December 2025, Mayor Daniel Lurie and Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman called for the creation of a Charter Reform Working Group. As referenced in its name, the working group has been tasked to review the City’s 548-page charter and make recommendations to bring to the ballot in November 2026.
While labor and community organizations have sent delegates to the working group,
Mothers deliver testimony inside the mayor’s office inside San Francisco City Hall on February 11, 2025. Photo by Leon Kunstenaar.
The average San Franciscan that goes to or contacts City Hall can access 152 boards and commissions and give input on how the City operates. Some of these bodies make decisions for City departments, like the Police Commission or the Rent Board. Others perform as advisory committees, such as the Youth Commission.
by Lupe Velez
Every two years, the City of San Francisco conducts a Point-in-Time Count (PIT) with which it attempts to capture the number of people experiencing street homelessness, as required by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as a condition for funding. San Francisco’s latest PIT Count was conducted in the early morning Thursday, January 29. Historically, advocates and government officials alike have criticized the PIT count for underreporting its figures.
by Christin Evans
As tenant activists decry development plan, one supe looks to drafting ballot measure as an alternative
In a heated session of the Board of Supervisors’ December 2 meeting, Mayor Daniel Lurie’s controversial “family zoning plan” to upzone the western and northern sides of San Francisco passed on a 7–4 vote. The board’s more left-leaning supervisors—Connie Chan, Chyanne Chen, Shamann Walton and Jackie Fielder—voted to oppose the plan.
