Trump’s Attack on the Movement for Housing for All

by Contributing Author

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,

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Trump’s New Substance Use Policy Would Have Made My Own Recovery Impossible

by Contributing Author

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.

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I’ve Buried 17 Friends. Sweeps Won’t  Stop the Next Funeral.

by Contributing Author

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.

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Trump’s Crackdown on Homelessness: What Does It Mean for California?

by Contributing Author

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.

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Garth Mullins on New Memoir ‘Crackdown: Surviving and Resisting the War on Drugs’

by Contributing Author

by Amy Romer

Garth Mullins has spent years telling other people’s stories — amplifying voices of drug users through his award-winning podcast Crackdown and organizing with the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU). Now, he’s turned the lens on himself.

His memoir, Crackdown: Surviving and Resisting the War on Drugs, is not a victory lap or redemption tale; it’s something rarer: a grounded,

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The Underbelly Project

by Contributing Author

A group of San Francisco based public health practitioners and community members began organizing in January in response to the City’s attack on drug users and harm reduction services in San Francisco. The Underbelly Project, which symbolizes the under-represented communities of San Francisco, began collecting interviews from unhoused people who use drugs and access harm reduction services. On March 15, the group projected powerful quotes gathered from the transcripts of those interviews on walls at the 24th Street/Mission BART Station—as a way to engage and educate the public.

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An Alternative Pilot Proposal: Evidence-based, Effective SF Street Response

by Contributing Author

“Their tactics, what they’re trying to do, they’re just using force. I think they can turn it down a notch, not be so forceful. 

They come up and tell us we’re detained right off the bat. 

Then they dig into our pockets and put everything on the ground. Then if they find drugs or anything, they take us to jail. We’ll get out in a couple days. 

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The City Sets Drug Raids in Motion, Raises Concerns of Human Rights Violations and Rise in Overdoses

by Contributing Author

by Lupe Velez

Mayor Daniel Lurie is delivering on his promise to address the overdose crisis through well coordinated criminalization efforts, much to the worry of drug policy reformers and harm reduction advocates. Throughout his campaign last year, he was vocal about the fentanyl crisis, framing overdoses as the most pressing issue his administration would confront. He stated during his inaugural speech, “Widespread drug dealing, public drug use and constantly seeing people in crisis has robbed us of our sense of decency and security.” He has since passed the Fentanyl State of Emergency Ordinance through the Board of Supervisors,

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Re: Community Concerns and Recommendations Regarding the Jessie Street Project

by Contributing Author

by Justice Dumlao

The following is a letter submitted by email to the San Francisco Police Commission.

Dear President Elias and Commission Members, 

On behalf of the Safer Inside and Treatment on Demand Coalitions — two coalitions dedicated to enhancing the health and well-being of San Francisco’s most vulnerable residents — we write to express serious concerns about the San Francisco Police Department’s (SFPD) project at the parking lot on Jessie Street.

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An Open Letter To Daniel Lurie On PSH, Corruption, the Drug Crisis, and Everything in Between

by Contributing Author

by Jordan Davis

Dear Mayor Lurie,

Congratulations on winning the mayor’s race. I certainly did not vote for you or anyone else for mayor, because I believe San Francisco’s strong mayor system needs to be scuttled. However, as you are now in office, there are some things you should know.

I know that you want to focus on shelters as a homelessness response.

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