A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness
Thief: The City of SF – DPW & SFPD
Interview with Angel Amador by the Stolen Belonging team, January 4, 2019, Soma District, San Francisco.
Angel Amador: My name’s Angel. I’ve been in San Francisco since 1998. I ran away from home at 15, and San Francisco was one of the first places on my things to do, places to go list. [The sweeps have been] an ongoing thing where they’ve taken my belongings over and over and over and over.
By the project’s core team members: TJ Johnston, Shanna Couper Orona, Meghan “Roadkill” Johnson and Sophia Thibodeaux
Performed at the Stolen Belonging: A Public Reclamation action at the DPW yard, June 22, 2019
Edited by artist Jadelynn Stahl in collaboration with the Stolen Belonging team through a series of creative writing workshop, using interviews taken by Leslie Dreyer of each team member
TJ: My name is TJ Johnston.
We are so excited to kick off our 30 Year Anniversary with this issue, featuring reflections from former and current writers, contributors, vendors, and editors.
And we are SO honored to finally release to you this incredible image created by local artist Alejandro in honor of this special anniversary!
Artwork by Alejandro (they/them)
web: aledelacosta.net
ig: @aledelacosta
This image celebrates the thousands of people like yourselves who have donated and read the paper,
by Quiver Watts
OAKLAND, CA — On October 24, BART’s Board of Directors declined to consider a proposal to formulate a new ordinance that would criminalize people for panhandling or busking on BART platforms or on trains after hearing public comment from a variety of patrons, including a rapper who performs on trains, an ACLU lawyer, a career musician and a human rights organizer for the Coalition on Homelessness.
If the board had decided in favor of a panhandling ban they would have tasked the general manager and staff of the Bay Area-wide transit agency with formulating an ordinance that would make it an infraction to panhandle or perform,
by Zach K.
“Save the 24th St. trees? …Hi, would you like to save the 24th St. trees?”
A bearded activist in a wheelchair is handing out flyers at the 16th and Mission BART plaza while a pink sunset fades across the skyline. Passengers scurry past, traveling their daily commute with hive-like purpose and intention.
“The city wants to cut down 48 trees along 24th street…”
Eventually,
By TJ Johnston
Since 2001, I’ve been involved with Street Sheet in some capacity — then as a freelancer, and now as a sort-of managing editor — but my relationship with the Coalition on Homelessness’s newspaper began long before it printed my first article that year.
I started buying Street Sheet from vendors when I moved to San Francisco in 1994. A friend told me, “That’s the paper homeless people sell for a dollar.” I learned that the vendors keep every penny,
Sam surrounded by many of the Street Sheet team.
What were the key issues homeless people in San Francisco faced during your time as editor?
The same ones that they are always facing: Folks were dealing with a lack of affordable housing the midst of the criminalization of homelessness. In 2016, criminalization manifested itself in then-Supervisor Mark Farrell’s Prop Q, the anti-tent ban. We ended up printing 50,000 Street Sheet-style papers agains Prop Q and included it in our campaign against the measure.
Street Sheet Vendor 1996-2019
I done went through a lot of people in this office. The only person who was here when I first started was Miguel, he’s the only one. And he used to be the Street Sheet person we got papers from. When you came in, he would be sitting at the front desk. I’m a retired veteran so this keeps me busy. It helps individuals that needs help, it gives you a motivation to do your work you know,
What were the key issues homeless people in San Francisco faced during your time as editor?
San Francisco’s affordable housing shortage was reaching crisis levels right at this time, and the Board of Supervisors also created the strategy of using “oversize vehicle bans” as a loophole to clear the streets of vehicularly housed people, as the existing ban on dwelling in a vehicle was unenforceable and, in one instance in Los Angeles,
by Paul Boden, Coalition on Homelessness co-founder
Giving people the voice of our community and educating the public to respect ALL people’s Human Rights pretty much sums up what the Street Sheet means to me, and what I recall us talking about in the office when we started the paper up. While our desire to put out the paper came largely through our incredible frustration with how we and our issues are defined in the mainstream media our goal with the paper was/is always will be to show our creative talents,
