A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness
By YHW
My name is Yaas. I, and my 9 year old sister, are residents at the Oasis Hotel, which is now a family shelter. It isn’t a matter of if this property should be permanently purchased, but when. For families like mine, it is the last option and for many, a safe haven making the name “Oasis” very fitting.
My sister and I are former foster youth—members of an oppressed class that makes up the majority of both homeless and imprisoned populations.
By Quiver Watts and Alastair Boone and TJ Johnston
On Tuesday, December 6, community members from around the Bay Area converged on the California Department of Transportation’s (CalTrans) District 4 office in Oakland, chanting “CalTrans: stop sweeping us up!” The action, led by POOR Magazine, was convened in order to deliver a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to District Director Tony Tavares, demanding all the internal communications and budget items relating to encampment sweeps in Oakland,
by Ian James
The Tenderloin Center was shut down by city officials on December 4. The center was a low barrier service hub serving over 400 people per day on average. They were provided with meals and connections to services including harm reduction, substance use and housing. The center also served as a safe place for people to use drugs in a supervised environment.
Originally dubbed “The Tenderloin Linkage Center,” the location was created as part of Mayor London Breed’s Tenderloin “State of Emergency” declaration.
We are so heartbroken to share the news of another lost Coalition family member. Scott Nelson was the backbone of the Street Sheet vendor program for years, serving as the vendor coordinator on a volunteer basis, getting this paper into the hands of hundreds of vendors who make their living selling it. As a volunteer he also fought for recycling programs to remain in operation across the City, helped countless homeless people navigate the system to get their towed vehicles back and redistributed abandoned transportation devices to people who needed them.
By YHW
My name is Yaas. I, and my 9 year old sister, are residents at the Oasis Hotel, which is now a family shelter. It isn’t a matter of if this property should be permanently purchased, but when. For families like mine, it is the last option and for many, a safe haven making the name “Oasis” very fitting.
My sister and I are former foster youth—members of an oppressed class that makes up the majority of both homeless and imprisoned populations.
by Joanna Piercers
I remember forcing open my simple blanket. It is light—maybe too light. But you know what they say: Beggars can’t be choosers, and I was not going to be one, not ever. I was taught better and I was not gonna forget that. And anyway, it was a small gift from a stranger, one I was not ashamed to appreciate.
One year and two days. One whole year and for some reason it feels like always,
by Leslie Dreyer
The biggest thief and abuser in San Francisco, by far, is the City itself. Mayor London Breed’s administration—including the Healthy Streets Operations Center (HSOC), the police department, and the Department of Public Works—enacts violence against unhoused folks daily by sweeping encampments.
Photo montage by Leslie Dreyer
Stolen Belonging, a project of the Coalition on Homelessness,
https://www.stolenbelonging.org
TJ Johnston and Leslie Dreyer conducted this interview for the Stolen Belonging Project. It was recorded by Jin Zhu.
Photo by Jin Zhu of interviewee’s hands and her official City and County of San Francisco DPW badge.
For the past two decades, San Francisco’s Department of Public Works (DPW) has largely ignored incidents of their employees committing acts of abuse,
https://www.stolenbelonging.org
With encampment sweeps in San Francisco becoming as common a sight as street dwellings themselves, some things are easily observed: large Public Works trucks pulling up, police officers enforcing the operations and unhoused residents scrambling to hold onto what’s left of their possessions that isn’t already thrown in the trucks.
Video still of Diana Valentine by Jin Zhu
What’s less visible are the traumatic effects unsheltered San Franciscans suffer long after the streets are cleared of sidewalk habitation.
Interview with Lisa Mahmoud by the Stolen Belonging Team, Bayview District, San Francisco
https://www.stolenbelonging.org
San Francisco resident Lisa Mahmoud gestures as if she’s holding one of the most beloved and irreplaceable items stolen from her in the sweeps: a basket woven by her grandmother who has passed. Photo by Leslie Dreyer
My name is Lisa Mahmoud. I was born in Ethiopia but I came here when I was five.
