A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness
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,
Part 3 of the Sweepy Town Chronicles
by Andy Howard
This is a serial work of fiction. You can find parts 1&2 at streetsheet.org
It was late after the drama surrounding the encampment subsided, and Will had not really established a new shelter to his liking. It was looking like he’d be sleeping rough, and it was drizzling—another temperate San Francisco evening. A few pieces of cardboard with some plastic were going to have to suffice.
by Tariq Johnson
The saga of living and surviving homelessness continues. Just when I got comfortable in my stabilization room it seemed like my past hit me again, it was like déjà vu. The bed bugs started to come out the ceiling on the fourth floor where my room was, and when I turned off the lights at night they began to bite. I was shocked cuz I knew this would be the beginning of a long fight.
by Anonymous
When COVID-19 hit San Francisco, it made matters worse for all of us struggling to live on the streets. The cold, rainy nights with flimsy shelters, no balanced diet, no proper clothing and no money to help even in acquiring the cheapest commodities in the convenience stores are harder than one might imagine.
COVID made the streets so unbearable. At first no one knew what it was.
by Revolt
“If this pandemic has taught me anything, it’s that it’s not safe to talk about it.”
I found myself writing these words to a burgeoning “COVID-conscious” friend group this week, feeling the gut-wrenching pain of yet another loss of community. In a time when the country has decided to somehow “move on” from a rampant virus that still kills and hospitalizes Americans in droves, it’s hard to feel like reality has any basis in the rational.
