A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness
SACRAMENTO – California Attorney General Xavier Becerra issued a consumer alert following the Governor’s declaration of a state of emergency in effect statewide due to wildfires blazing through the North Bay. Charging more than 10% more than an item was previously sold for is known as price gouging, and during a state of emergency is illegal under Penal Code Section 396.
“Families in California are in the midst of dealing with devastating wildfires.
In San Francisco, all pregnant people should be prioritized for shelter and housing.
We are health professionals at UCSF and we recently asked you to help us guarantee this. We are pleased to report that on Friday, October 18, London Breed signed into agreement that all pregnant people who are unhoused will qualify for family status in access to shelter and housing. Previously, only pregnant people in their third trimester were eligible. This policy change has the potential to prevent poor health outcomes for pregnant people and their future children.
By Carlos Wadkins
From keeping thousands of children in cages at the border to kicking 25,000 mixed status families out of Section 8 housing, every detail of American immigration policy has been diligently refined over time to inflict the most pain and suffering possible onto immigrants and their families. It truly covers all bases. Zero tolerance policies and concentration camps at the border offer a violent reception to so-called “illegal” immigrants, while visa restrictions and third-country asylum agreements make it harder and harder to enter the country legally.
Rest in Peace, Nebane Abienwi.
by Ella-Rose Kessler
The beginning of October was marked by the tragic death of Nebane Abienwai, a Cameroonian immigrant awaiting asylum at Otay Mesa Detention Center, a private camp in San Diego run by CoreCivic, a private contractor based in Nashville. Abienwai, who died from a brain hemorrhage, is one of eight people who have died at the hands of the federal government so far in 2019.
By Mirjam Washuus
In September, housed residents of Clinton Park sparked disorder in the community by attempting to rid their street of drug dealers and homeless people living in encampments. They decided to do so by crowdfunding the installation of boulders onto the sidewalk.
Clearly, someone among the residents have read Albert Camus’ philosophical essay, “The Myth of Sisyphus.” Here, Camus contemplates the purpose of living in a universe devoid of order and meaning,
By TJ Johnston
As Street Sheet goes to press, a ballot initiative that could put unsheltered people with mental challenges under further scrutiny from law enforcement and court system has been introduced.
On October 10, a proposal called the California Compassionate Intervention Act was submitted to the state attorney general’s office. Under the plan, police would be further empowered to arrest homeless people under existing state codes — including those for illegal lodging and drug-related offenses — and divert them to a special behavioral court in their county.
by America Greenfield-Peterson
My whole life money has been something I have worried about. After my parents got divorced me, my mom and my brother lived for a while either on the couches in my grandparents’ house or in a trailer in the driveway for a few years off and on. My parents had to sell the house they bought prior to the divorce so at my dad’s house me, my dad and my brother moved in with his brother and shared their extra bedroom.
By J de Salvo
Food or drugs? Yes, you. I’m talking to you. Well, which is it? Food or drugs? What? You need to do laundry? You want a cup of coffee? I’m sorry. Your choice is simple: food or drugs.
That would get annoying after a while, wouldn’t it? Suppose you weren’t hungry, or you didn’t do drugs. Suppose there was something you really needed to get done in order to move forward with your life,
From the Coalition on Homelessness
On the tails of the Trump Administration blasting California cities including San Francisco and Los Angeles for the homelessness crisis, and calling for the creation of camps, members of the Trump administration, including Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson visited San Francisco’s Potrero Hill housing development.
According to Jennifer Friedenbach, Coalition on Homelessness Executive Director, “Look around any major United States city and one can see people who are suffering as a result of the Trump government’s indifference to poverty and homelessness.
by Mirjam Washuus
“The San Francisco Department of Public Health’s top priority is patient care. (…) We share the urgency to improve the lives of San Franciscans who are experiencing homelessness, mental illness and substance use disorder.”
These were the opening lines of a September 20 statement from Public Health director Grant Colfax in the wake of a prematurely adjourned Health Commission meeting three days earlier. It was shut down by a coalition of activists and nursing professionals who showed up with signs,
