A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness
Governor Gavin Newsom’s CARE Courts are now law after he signed the legislation on September 14.
Senate Bill 1338, a Newsom proposal, will create a specialized mental health court where judges can compel people with mental health disabilities and substance use conditions into treatment. The bill allows a broad list of “specified individuals” to refer somebody for conservatorship, and sets a similarly broad set of conditions qualifying them for CARE Court.
To some this is a lived experience, and to others just a tall tale. Many homeless people I have interacted with on the streets of West Coast cities—either unhoused and unsheltered—have had really painful experiences with the police, or experienced brutality from other people in the neighborhood. Some are not in shelters because they have a reason not to be, like being undocumented. For those living in fear of deportation, avoiding interaction feels like the way to stay unknown and unnoticed,
Dan Paul, an urban survivalist and magical street performer, has departed for his next grand adventure. He passed away on August 12, 2022. Dan was born November 11, 1970 in Seattle, Wash. into a loving family. He spent his early years at his home in Enumclaw, finishing out his youth in Huntsville, Ala. While a young adult, Dan felt crowded and claustrophobic trying to adjust to the demands of a conforming life and decided to take to the streets,
It’s a rare chilly morning in August, and I’m not fully awake when I hear the sound of an incoming message on my phone. I force myself to sit up and grab the phone from the nightstand. I see that it’s a message from Jeannie, an acquaintance from high school. There’s a video attached to the message. Jeannie likes sending me funny videos that she finds on YouTube—this one is called “Fake Mental Disorder Cringe.” Right away,
There is no limit to the depth a man may fall
Listen to the man laying on the floor defeated
For he has wisdom to share
And a story to tell
Misery is intoxicating
A shadow so dark
Cast by a bright red sun
Ever present, forever constant
Blanketing me with grief
Bedding me in pain
A pauper rich only in emotions
Until there is no more,
We are devastated to learn about the loss of Eric E-Tee, a longtime Street Sheet vendor beloved by many. Eric, known to many as E-Tee, lived here in San Francisco since he was 27 years old. E-Tee sold the Street Sheet since 1989, when it was only one sheet of paper. He usually sold the paper outside of Peet’s Coffee on the corner of Van Ness and Turk, wearing his distinctive gray fedora.
Invest in housing and mental health services, not criminalization
The CARE Court Governor Newsom is backing is dangerous! Senate Bill 1338 would establish “C.A.R.E. Courts’’ in California. C.A.R.E Court has a $65 million starting cost and claims to combat houselessness and support people with mental health disabilities, but provides no funding for permanent supportive housing or mental health services.
CARE Court can require participants to take medication against their will. If they refuse medication for any reason,
On April 26, the San Francisco Chronicle published an exposé on the conditions in single-resident occupancy hotels (SROs) used as permanent supportive housing (PSH). Many of us took a calculated risk in speaking to the Chronicle over a multi-year period concerning the issues we face every day, and many tenants felt a sense of being on the precipice of victory; we were winning and felt on top of the world looking down on creation.
San Francisco just released its first point in time (PIT) count of homeless and unsheltered people in the City since before the COVID-19 pandemic. A group of city workers and volunteers scoured the city on February 23, 2022, tallying those most vulnerable members of our community who live without adequate shelter in this prosperous City by the Bay. The findings of the PIT count make for sobering reading.
We are all aware that in 2020 there was an immediate and concerted effort to get unhoused people inside—or at least into ‘safe sleeping’ programs that connected them with services and provided them with a stable place to pitch their tents.
Young, energetic, and full of life, I only wanted what was best for my family and me. After completing high school back in my country of birth, I wanted to study abroad. I always dreamt of the U.S. In 2016, I started filling out my applications, and I was determined to achieve my dream. Luckily, I had all the support I needed, and after so many applications finally I got a response for a U.S.
