A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness
by the National Homelessness Law Center
Everybody needs a safe place to live. But instead of lowering rents and fixing our broken housing system, politicians are setting the stage for violence by cutting funding for vital programs, passing laws that make it a crime to sleep outside, and continually demonizing and vilifying homeless people. Their actions have devastating and fatal consequences.
Three separate incidents within the last week highlight this horrific trend.
by Jordan Wasilewski
On September 2, the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) sent its report on evictions from Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH), as required by City law. For background, the ordinance requiring annual reports was pushed by then-Supervisor Mark Farrell in 2015 with little stakeholder engagement.
The report indicates the number of written notices (notifications of a landlord’s intent to initiate eviction process),
Homeless Activist and Mother Fights for Housing as Disabled Daughter Leaves Hospital
by Lupe Velez
On Tuesday August 27, Faith in Action, in collaboration with United Educators of San Francisco and the Coalition on Homelessness, held a press conference, rally and march, starting at Cesar Chavez Elementary School in the Mission District and continuing to Catholic Charities. The event was held in support of a houseless family, Maria Zavala and her daughter Samara,
by Cathleen Williams and Sandy Perry
Washington DC, August 12, 2025: “Yesterday, I walked from the White House through the National Mall… The streets are eerily empty for an August afternoon near the storied monuments. In some places, there are more ICE, DEA, ARNG, and FBI personnel than there are regular people. There are fire trucks blocking lanes of traffic for no reason. There are Humvees sitting outside of Union Station for no reason other than to terrorize people–to let *us know that we are being watched…” Facebook post,
by Apple Cronk
Last month, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14321—“Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets.” By criminalizing homelessness, addiction and mental health crises, the order strips federal support from lifesaving public health solutions like Housing First and harm reduction—the very policies that saved my life and my daughter’s, and made my nearly three years of recovery possible.
I spent over a decade unhoused in San Francisco.
by Stephen Przybylinski
Homelessness is on the rise in the United States, and in some places, it is becoming more common for the police to arrest someone for sleeping or living in a public space.
In June 2024, the Supreme Court issued a ruling, Grants Pass v. Johnson, that determined it is constitutional to issue citations to or arrest homeless people,
by Charlie Fisch
When I work with vulnerable populations at risk of further marginalization, I often don’t have answers to people’s pressing questions. When RV residents ask whether or not they will be able to stay in their homes for another year, it feels almost irresponsible to answer without concrete information. I’ve spent the last three months knocking on RV doors, trying to give RV residents access to local government and warn them of just how little the City has to offer.
by Paul Boden
Let’s be real about what’s happening. The U.S. Government is endeavoring to solidify its long time quest of a fascist dictatorship rule. It’s moving incredibly fast because the structures needed to pull this off have been getting implemented piecemeal and with purpose since the Reagan Revolution in 1980. So now they are ready to rock and roll.
Dictatorships always rely on a militarized police force to rain hell on a scapegoated minority that are “blamed” as the cause of whatever the authorities decide is going to put fear into their base and use that fear to stoke division and prejudice amongst people.
story and photos by Madi Koesler
With D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) now under federal control and the National Guard coming to D.C., the fate of people living in encampments remains up in the air.
During a press conference on 11 August, President Donald Trump said that law enforcement had already begun to clear encampments, but Street Sense has been unable to confirm this,
By Sister ’Nita House
I have buried 17 friends in two years. Fentanyl stole their breath. If punishment or shame could end addiction, they would still be here. But San Francisco’s new “drug-free sidewalks” plan does only that: punishes the poor, shames people in crisis, and hides suffering instead of healing it.
Mayor Daniel Lurie’s “Recovery First” law makes abstinence the City’s guiding star. Nonprofits that once handed out clean syringes or pipes are now forced to attach treatment counseling or else lose funding.
