A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness
by Cathleen Williams
On Wednesday, January 7, 2026, a cold and wintry dusk closed over Sacramento, California. This was the day that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) killed Renee Nicole Good in cold blood, in her car as she pulled away from the site of an ICE raid in Minneapolis. There were stuffed animals spilling out of the glovebox and a friendly dog in the back seat. Renee’s killing ignited protests across the country.
by Lupe Velez
On Tuesday, September 30, the SF Public Press hosted a screening of the documentary “No Place To Grow Old,” directed by Davey Schaupp and funded by Humans for Housing at the Roxie Theater in the Mission District. The film explored the stories of three seniors who entered homelessness later in life, with several housing and policy experts examining the crisis leading to the surge in adults over 50 entering homelessness nationwide.
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 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 Marisa Kendall/CalMatters
President Donald Trump’s new law-and-order approach to homelessness bears several striking resemblances to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s.
Trump wants cities to enforce laws that make it illegal for homeless people to sleep outside. So does Newsom.
Trump threatened to withhold funding from places that don’t. So did Newsom.
And the president wants to make it easier to force homeless people living with serious mental illness or addiction into treatment.
by Cathleen Williams, Homeward Street Journal
Protests have ignited across the nation in the first weeks of Donald Trump’s second presidency, with protests against Trump’s deportation policies taking place in Arizona, Arkansas, Missouri, Georgia and North Carolina. In Los Angeles, protesters shut down U.S. Highway 101 on February 2 to bring awareness to the threats to migrant and immigrant populations.
Hundreds of Californians of diverse ages and ethnicities rallied at the state capitol in Sacramento on February 5 to bring attention to this and other developments.
by Neil K. R. Sehgal and Ashwini Sehgal
Legislators who are descendants of slaveholders are significantly wealthier than members of Congress without slaveholder ancestry, new research has found.
The legacy of slavery in America remains a divisive issue, with sharp political divides.
Some argue that slavery still contributes to modern economic inequalities. Others believe that its effects have largely faded.
by Hollie Garrett
I watched the correctional officers from the sliver of the cell door window as they strapped on their rubber gloves and set up their metal detectors in preparation of the mass search. I had known this would be coming for days, but that did not simmer the anxiety and stress I felt in my chest and stomach as I watched them prepare to shatter any sense of privacy I may have developed during my stay in this prison.
by Stop the Sweeps
We know one main thing: shelter is not being offered to most people being swept from street encampments in the US. There are hardly ever enough shelter spaces available.
According to a decision upheld by the Supreme Court in the case Martin v. Boise — a decision currently at risk of being struck down in the case Grants Pass v. Johnson — cities cannot legally sweep people if they are not able to offer every individual shelter.
This summer, wastewater data shows us that COVID-19 cases are surging, and COVID-related deaths and hospitalizations are increasing as well. Vaccination rates are abysmal. Approximately 17 million people nationally live with long COVID, and your risk of developing long term disabling symptoms increases with each COVID infection. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have given up recommending any real mitigation strategies,
