A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness
Homelessness affects all of us, whether we have housing or not, but of course it hurts those living without homes worst of all. Having thousands of people without housing, without sanitation, without privacy, living outside and having thousands more in shelter in a small city like San Francisco is a humanitarian crisis. Unlike many crises, this one is a crisis that is man-made through poor policy decisions, and lack of corrective action. This crisis does have true solutions.
by David Pentland
The following article is part of INSP’s Changing the Narrative series. It has been written as the result of the new journalism training academy, established in 2025 by INSP to provide people with direct experience of homelessness and poverty the opportunity to learn about journalism and the media, and to enhance their storytelling and written abilities. The training academy has two ambitions: to challenge media and public misconceptions about homelessness;
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 Jack Bragen
Living with a mental illness can sometimes be a no-win scenario.
If you fail to take your medication or if you fail to follow other rules, you are subject to being thrown out on the street from your housing because you are considered a troublemaker.
If, on the other hand, you’re taking your medication and you’re doing all of the things you are expected to do,
by Jack Bragen
The treatment system has always been a “frenemy” to me as a mental health treatment recipient. I need these services, partly because of how the socioeconomic part of our infrastructure functions. I could not live without having money from Social Security, and having my medical care and psychiatric treatment paid for. In a “utopian” society, this might not be the case, but unfortunately we don’t live in Utopia.
by Jack Bragen
Editor’s note: This op-ed includes a time-sensitive call to action. If you or someone you know needs this service, the toll-free number is included in this column.
As I listened to the news on my transistor radio the other day, I discovered with alarm that the state might cut funding to the California Warm Line as of July 1, 2025.
by Cathleen Williams, Homeward Street Journal
In May 2024, the police got a call reporting that a man was lying outside an EV charging station with his head on the curb. When the police officers pulled up and got out of their car, they tried to get the man to move. He whispered, “Help me, help me…ambulance.” The man’s voice was so weak it is barely audible on the officer’s body-cam footage,
by Jack Bragen
My first psychotic episode was a risk to life and limb, my biggest test up to that point, my family’s big test and a precursor to what was to come in the succeeding 43 years and running.
In some respects, a second or third psychotic break isn’t as hard as the first. When I had my first extreme psychotic episode, I had no notion of what was happening to me.
by Jack Bragen
The messages are hammered in when you’re incarcerated, and you’re expected to believe them. You are told you’re no good. You’re bad news. You don’t deserve anything. Not love, not comfort, not money, nothing. You are undeserving. You are a bad person, and you should be punished.
Other people believe this of you under these circumstances. Try as you might, you can’t control someone else’s beliefs.
by Jack Bragen
Years ago, while I sat in a waiting room at a mental health clinic, I observed an old man who might have had dementia being brought in to get his shot of medication. He was grumpy and complaining at first, but said he felt better after the shot. It is plausible that the person administering it was to the man’s liking. It seems more doubtful to me that the medication,
