A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness
by Zach K.
“Save the 24th St. trees? …Hi, would you like to save the 24th St. trees?”
A bearded activist in a wheelchair is handing out flyers at the 16th and Mission BART plaza while a pink sunset fades across the skyline. Passengers scurry past, traveling their daily commute with hive-like purpose and intention.
“The city wants to cut down 48 trees along 24th street…”
Eventually,
By TJ Johnston
Since 2001, I’ve been involved with Street Sheet in some capacity — then as a freelancer, and now as a sort-of managing editor — but my relationship with the Coalition on Homelessness’s newspaper began long before it printed my first article that year.
I started buying Street Sheet from vendors when I moved to San Francisco in 1994. A friend told me, “That’s the paper homeless people sell for a dollar.” I learned that the vendors keep every penny,
Sam surrounded by many of the Street Sheet team.
What were the key issues homeless people in San Francisco faced during your time as editor?
The same ones that they are always facing: Folks were dealing with a lack of affordable housing the midst of the criminalization of homelessness. In 2016, criminalization manifested itself in then-Supervisor Mark Farrell’s Prop Q, the anti-tent ban. We ended up printing 50,000 Street Sheet-style papers agains Prop Q and included it in our campaign against the measure.
Street Sheet Vendor 1996-2019
I done went through a lot of people in this office. The only person who was here when I first started was Miguel, he’s the only one. And he used to be the Street Sheet person we got papers from. When you came in, he would be sitting at the front desk. I’m a retired veteran so this keeps me busy. It helps individuals that needs help, it gives you a motivation to do your work you know,
What were the key issues homeless people in San Francisco faced during your time as editor?
San Francisco’s affordable housing shortage was reaching crisis levels right at this time, and the Board of Supervisors also created the strategy of using “oversize vehicle bans” as a loophole to clear the streets of vehicularly housed people, as the existing ban on dwelling in a vehicle was unenforceable and, in one instance in Los Angeles,
by Paul Boden, Coalition on Homelessness co-founder
Giving people the voice of our community and educating the public to respect ALL people’s Human Rights pretty much sums up what the Street Sheet means to me, and what I recall us talking about in the office when we started the paper up. While our desire to put out the paper came largely through our incredible frustration with how we and our issues are defined in the mainstream media our goal with the paper was/is always will be to show our creative talents,
SACRAMENTO – California Attorney General Xavier Becerra issued a consumer alert following the Governor’s declaration of a state of emergency in effect statewide due to wildfires blazing through the North Bay. Charging more than 10% more than an item was previously sold for is known as price gouging, and during a state of emergency is illegal under Penal Code Section 396.
“Families in California are in the midst of dealing with devastating wildfires.
In San Francisco, all pregnant people should be prioritized for shelter and housing.
We are health professionals at UCSF and we recently asked you to help us guarantee this. We are pleased to report that on Friday, October 18, London Breed signed into agreement that all pregnant people who are unhoused will qualify for family status in access to shelter and housing. Previously, only pregnant people in their third trimester were eligible. This policy change has the potential to prevent poor health outcomes for pregnant people and their future children.
By Carlos Wadkins
From keeping thousands of children in cages at the border to kicking 25,000 mixed status families out of Section 8 housing, every detail of American immigration policy has been diligently refined over time to inflict the most pain and suffering possible onto immigrants and their families. It truly covers all bases. Zero tolerance policies and concentration camps at the border offer a violent reception to so-called “illegal” immigrants, while visa restrictions and third-country asylum agreements make it harder and harder to enter the country legally.
Rest in Peace, Nebane Abienwi.
by Ella-Rose Kessler
The beginning of October was marked by the tragic death of Nebane Abienwai, a Cameroonian immigrant awaiting asylum at Otay Mesa Detention Center, a private camp in San Diego run by CoreCivic, a private contractor based in Nashville. Abienwai, who died from a brain hemorrhage, is one of eight people who have died at the hands of the federal government so far in 2019.
