A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness
by Jack Bragen
To quote a highly educated, knowledgeable, authoritative religious man whom I know (I can’t give you his name, but he exists), “Words are weapons!” He’d said this to me in an outraged, loud, almost yelling, tone. He was unhappy with something I wrote. I had asserted that words didn’t count for much. That was more than twenty years ago, and now I know better.
Words can be weapons.
by Jack Bragen
Many people don’t find it difficult to work a job, and as a result they may lack empathy for those of us who find it highly challenging. They just can’t relate to the challenge of working with a disabling condition. Therefore, they might believe something is wrong with the person who finds work to be difficult. Or they might believe a person who has a problem with it is lazy or that they intend to mess things up.
When COVID-19 first hit the streets of San Francisco in 2020, the response was dramatic. People with housing began to shelter in place, mutual aid networks sprung up, and tenants went on rent strike. While San Francisco publicly spotlighted its shelter-in-place hotel program, which offered private rooms to about 1,500 unhoused people, many unsheltered San Franciscans were left to fend for themselves as shelters closed down and services shuttered their doors. During the two and a half years that the program operated,
by Jack Bragen
At 18, I was released from the hospital following a horrible psychotic episode for which I had been jailed and put in several psych wards. When finally released, I was back to some semblance of normality.
When I met with outpatient psychiatrists, they advised me that I should get a job doing the same kind of thing I’d done before I’d had the psychotic episode. It was never suggested that I try to go to college or do any kind of job that entailed brains.
by Agapezz
For me, it used to be that consuming was more important than eating: I needed it to fall asleep and wake up, to function. To keep from going crazy, I hold on to the high, even if it means ignoring any morality I really wanted to hold on to. Consumption lulls my traumas to sleep and covers them so they don’t wake up. I would like to deal with my negative experiences,
by Seth Katz
At the heart of San Francisco’s ongoing struggle with drug-related issues lies a promising yet elusive solution: the establishment of overdose prevention (ODP) centers. While public health experts and advocates champion these centers as vital tools for mitigating the harms of substance use, attempts at opening them have been marred by political backlash and indecision. The result is a troubling gap between ODPs’ potential benefits and the concrete actions taken to bring them to fruition.
by Jack Bragen
At some point in our lives, we are likely to live through physical danger. In some instances, the danger comes from a potential attacker. The typical attacker does this either because they gain some form of sustenance from it, e.g., a mugger who makes a living at it, or someone does this simply because they can. This piece discusses scary situations where there is a threat or a perceived threat of physical attack.
by Jack Bragen
Content warning: This article describes police harassment perpetrated toward me. I acknowledge that this article could reopen old wounds of some past acquaintances and could step on some toes: You know who you are. I am sorry about that. However, this is a story that I need to tell.
As a teen, I was arrested in an incident where I was clueless, and didn’t have any “criminal intent,”
by Everett May
Most people can appreciate the value in having a good advocate on your side during life’s challenging moments. Almost everybody has experienced a situation when an advocate was either necessary or would have come in handy. In certain circumstances advocates are not hard to find—especially if there is money involved—but that’s not always the case. Sometimes your troubles have nothing to do with money, or they are something money just can’t fix.
by Jack Bragen
There is something to be said for not being afraid to get your hands dirty, for not being afraid to compete, including when things aren’t friendly, for being on the bottom and clawing your way to the top, and, to sum it up, living in the soup. And the soup might be distasteful, its meat could be foul, and its veggies and noodles could be overdone to the point of mushy.
