A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness
Street Medic Couper Orona Cares for Unsheltered People
“Being disabled and on the street is one of the hardest things anyone could deal with,” says Couper Orona. A retired firefighter, Couper has for many years supported the unhoused community in San Francisco as a street medic. She was injured when working as a firefighter in the Sacramento area; living with disability after a surgery and then facing homelessness after a divorce forced her to navigate a system that ignores the most vulnerable.
My name is Dlan, and I am blind. I have been totally blind since birth. My whole life, sighted people have been trying to help, but they do it poorly. They often do not understand me and do not think of simply asking me what I feel comfortable with when they have tried to help. I don’t need to be grabbed or touched to be helped. I want to spread the message of respect, communication and equality from those with disabilities to people without disabilities.
Within the past month, San Francisco made an important stride toward providing water to more unhoused San Franciscans. Yet as the City makes improvements to water access, it has taken significant steps backward when it comes to access to sanitation and hygiene. Just this month, the City’s plan to substantially reduce access to public toilets across San Francisco, targeting locations with high concentrations of unhoused San Franciscans, was unveiled.
Water,
A punk with spiky hair in the foreground sits in a wheelchair raising their fist. Behind them hands gesture in sign language. There is a brain with the symbol for dopamine and a heart drawn underneath. A figure wearing glasses uses a white cane and walks with a dog, who is smiling.
Street Sheet is accepting submissions for our first ever Disability Issue!
We are seeking articles, narratives, poems, artwork, comics, etc focusing on the intersections of disability,
Martin Luther King, Jr. famously said “the budget is a moral document,” and that is certainly the case in San Francisco. Decisions about how we prioritize our spending can be a matter of life and death; whether we are investing money in law enforcement or health care or housing has real life consequences. The Coalition on Homelessness (COH) has several budget campaigns operating simultaneously this year. If they are not included in the Mayor’s budget we will fight for that funding at the Board.
