Will the U.S. Supreme Court Make it Easier for Cities to Banish Us?  Maybe, But We Will Not Disappear! 

by the Western Regional Advocacy Project

On April 22, 2024 the U.S. Supreme Court will hear the case of City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Gloria Johnson. The case determines if the U.S. Constitution allows for local governments to fine, arrest, and jail people for living outside, when they have nowhere else to go. Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP) members are planning a day of action on April 22, 2024 to speak out for the rights of unhoused people to exist,

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Mend Housing First, Don’t End It

by Jordan Davis

My name is Jordan. I have purple hair, a nose piercing, I sometimes curse off the Board of Supervisors, and I’ve flirted with cocaine use (though I never purchased it, never used it in my unit, and don’t do it anymore). I am also a Housing First success story, and it saved my life.

What is Housing First? It’s the idea that homeless people can best recover if they are rehoused with wraparound supportive services,

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How to Help 12,000 Low-Income Residents in Sacramento

by Isidore Mika Székely Manes-Dragan

The Community Summit on Homelessness, held in September 2023, provided many ways to elevate the voices of the homeless community. The event was coordinated by the Sacramento Homeless Organizing Committee (SHOC) and its many supporters and allies. Representatives from the Sacramento and Oakland homeless communities came together to attend. One of the functions of the event was listening booths,

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As California Evictions Boom, Whether Tenants Get Lawyers Depends on Where They Live

Black woman in African headwrap against a red, gold and green background

by Felicia Mello, CalMatters

San Francisco provides all tenants facing eviction access to an attorney. Across the Bay, in Contra Costa County, it’s a different story. Two tenants’ stories show the difference a lawyer can make.

After years of living on the streets and in single-room-occupancy hotels, the cozy studio apartment in San Francisco’s Japantown felt like a sanctuary to Corey Lafayette. He’d moved with no furniture,

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Coalition on Homelessness et al vs. San Francisco: Lawyers Make the Case for Stopping Sweeps

San Francisco’s response to unsheltered homelessness has long been on the radar of local and national media, and it’s pinging more frequently, partly because of a lawsuit that the Coalition on Homelessness has filed against the City.

Last year, a federal judge ruled that the City can not arrest or issue citations to people in homeless encampments without a real and specific offer of shelter while the case is in litigation.

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Op-ed: Supportive Housing Should Have Its Own Board

by Jordan Davis

As many of our readers know, this year, the Homelessness Oversight Commission (HOC) was launched last spring to oversee the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH).Three advisory committees— the Local Homeless Coordinating Board, the Shelter Monitoring Committee, and the Shelter Grievance Advisory Committee—were placed under the commission that would appoint members who would report directly to the commission rather than the mayor or board of supervisors. 

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Homeless in Gaza

by tiny, daughter of Dee, mama of Tiburcio @povertyskola

The connections between our targeted, unhoused relatives in Gaza and our unhoused bodies on occupied Turtle Island

“WTF??? Three cops came up to me in succession, first cajoling, then demanding, then threatening arrest if I didn’t leave. This wasn’t just a sweep, this was terror.” Jonny X, longtime RoofLessRadio at POOR Magazine reporter from Occupied Yelamu, SF reported from under his tarp at 8th and Mission. 

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Scattered Site Housing Works in Other Communities. Why Not San Francisco?

by Jordan Davis

In November of 2022, I voted no on the charter amendment to create a Homelessness Oversight Commission in San Francisco. But I am secretly glad it passed, because it is yet another forum where I can criticize the government. It is good that the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing is on the hot seat.

Every meeting, I enjoy reading the director’s report and highlighting various details of programs,

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Op-ed: PSH Eviction Data Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story

Woman raising fist, wearing a green kerchief and shirt reading "None of us is free until all of us are free"

by Jordan Davis

Every September, the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing releases data on evictions for the preceding fiscal year, as required by a City ordinance. Since 2020, I have read these yearly reports, and the more I learn about these reports, the more skeptical I am of whether they paint a true picture of evictions from permanent supportive housing (PSH).

At September’s Homelessness Oversight Commission meeting,

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Landlords’ Party Celebrating The End Of The Covid Eviction Moratorium Ends In Confrontation Between Tenants And Landlords

Protesters holding banner reading "Evictions? Hell No"

by Bradley Penner

Fights broke out at Freehouse Pub as tenants protested a party celebrating the end of tenant protections throughout the city of Berkeley

On the evening of September 12, local landlords with the Berkeley Property Owners Association (BPOA) hosted a private mixer at Freehouse Pub to celebrate the end of Berkeley’s eviction moratorium.

“I think it’s pretty insensitive and shows how they’re not really part of the community,” Berkeley Rent Board chair Leah Simon-Wiesberg told Street Spirit.

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