A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness
by the Western Regional Advocacy Project
Everyone is familiar with a sweep, be it by definition, bearing witness to somebody being displaced or even coming across a familiar place and noticing people who used to live there are suddenly gone. Sweeps happen every day in our communities. Yet despite new policies, rhetoric and media portrayals of sweeps and city government’s asinine excuses for doing them (i.e. health or drug issues),
by Lukas Illa
San Francisco community based-organizations enter another city budget cycle with great uncertainty of whether their core programs will exist in four months time. With Mayor Daniel Lurie’s Austerity First budget (my words, not his), San Francisco is once again electing to siphon funding for working-class communities of color to pad law enforcement agencies’ already bloated budgets.
The People’s Budget Coalition has tracked a combination of $62 million expected cuts to the Department of Public Health (DPH),
By Katie Doran and Annemarie Cuccia
Last summer, a DC resident was looking for apartments to rent with his newly received housing voucher. The man, who Street Sense is not identifying to protect his family’s privacy and the outreach organization that he worked with, was born in El Salvador. His parents brought him to the US more than 20 years ago,
by the Western Regional Advocacy Project
We must celebrate and honor that people remain steadfast in their commitment to organize as the U.S. government has continued its mission of fascist dictatorial rule.
The tactics implemented by today’s American fascist dictatorship have long mirrored similar tyrannical tactics throughout history: “Repression breeds resistance” is a relevant phrase now more than ever.
Organizers across the country have demonstrated that this resistance can take many forms and that’s our strength and our beauty as we build community locally and across the country.
by Cathleen Williams
Since December 31, 2025, ICE agents have killed three U.S. citizens: Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, and Keith Porter Jr. in Los Angeles.
On February 3, 2026, Renee Nicole Good’s two brothers, Luke and Brent Ganger, testified before Congress. “What a beautiful American we have lost,” Luke Granger said in his opening remarks. Reflecting on his sister’s being and essence,
by Lupe Velez
Historically, the Super Bowl in the City of San Francisco has prompted city officials and local authorities to ramp up sweeps and the clearing of homeless encampments in the downtown area. Leading up to the 2016 Super Bowl—or Super Bowl 50 to sports fans—City officials stated there was no formal City policy to move people for the Super Bowl, which actually took place 45 miles away in Santa Clara and will be on this year’s gameday.
story and photo by Cathleen Williams
“I cannot live without my freedom, and I will not live without freedom,” says Street Sheet vendor Jessica in Sacramento. Here, she sits with Felipe.
Freedom of movement is a fundamental right of residents on American soil. The right extends to all, including people who live outside on our streets and open public spaces.
It’s a bedrock principle, embedded in our consciousness and our culture,
by Cathleen Williams
All of the material things that belong to Stephanie Arnold Williams fit on two small shelves in her dwelling place on the sidewalk of East Sixth Street in Los Angeles. She lives here under an airy, white tent; she is building a sleeping platform next door. Stephanie has set up this tiny oasis, clean and cool, outside the sturdy cement block building that houses LA Community Action Network (LA CAN) in the heart of Skid Row.
On Friday, September 19, 2025, Mayor Daniel Lurie signed a settlement that requires the City to follow its bag-and-tag policy and establish strong accountability and oversight measures. This marks a significant hard fought victory for all unhoused people across San Francisco. The lawsuit was brought by the Coalition on Homelessness, its members, plaintiffs, the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area.
In 2022,
This transcript of the Street Speak podcast was edited for brevity and clarity. Listen to this episode in its entirety at streetsheet.org/street-speak-podcast.
We welcome Apple Cronk along with her partner, Josh Donohoe, who are co-plaintiffs in the Coalition on Homelessness’s lawsuit against the City of San Francisco for their practices in encampment sweeps and the destruction of property belonging to unsheltered residents. That case was recently resolved and signed by Mayor Daniel Lurie on Friday,
