Trump Threatens to Deploy National Guard to San Francisco—What Does This Mean?

by Contributing Author

by Lupe Velez

The Trump Administration, during its short time in power, has waged strategic attacks on nearly every marginalized group in the country. It has slashed funds for health care, education, environmental protections and more. President Trump’s direct attack on the homeless population began in August of 2025, when he deployed the National Guard to clear homeless encampments in Washington, D.C. This followed his executive order on July 24, when he outlined his plan in a press conference to increase sweeps,

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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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A Courageous Stand for the Marvel in the Mission

by Contributing Author

by Jordan Wasilewski

In 1956, then-Senator and future President John F. Kennedy released a book called “Profiles In Courage” about elected leaders who took on difficult decisions because they believed they were right, rather than popular.

Almost 70 years later, it still seems as if courage is too short in supply in all levels of government. But, during the July 29 Board of Supervisors meeting,

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WRAP Approach to Artwork as a Key Organizing Tool

by Contributing Author

by the Western Regional Advocacy Project

From the time WRAP created Without Housing, we have used art as a fundamental organizing tool. Our goal in “Without Housing” was to show data with more appeal than a bar chart. We gave artists the charts and asked them to come up with imagery that showed the real effects of that data on people’s lives. An image can quickly capture and communicate a vital statistic and help reinforce the meaning of those numbers.

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America’s Latest War Target: The Truth

by Contributing Author

by Jack Bragen

The U.S. is at war. Our government has been lying to us. 

This war exists despite the absence of a specific external enemy. This is a war being waged from the inside out, on multiple fronts, with no physical line that could be drawn on a map. Our nation is fighting a war on truth. 

The weapons of this war are words. And this doesn’t mean the weapons are soft or lack impact.

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835 Turk Dilemma Raises Questions

by Contributing Author

by Jordan Wasilewski

In May, Mission Local broke the story that 835 Turk St., a new permanent supportive housing complex that I vocally supported in early 2022 will have to undergo extensive repairs which will require tenants to (supposedly) temporarily move out. The article, which has been the only to cover this story so far, focused heavily on how tenants rightfully distrust the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) to ensure  a just transition and a right of return once the building’s rehab is completed.

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In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cashless

by Contributing Author

by Justice

Cashless society can be harmful to low-income and homeless people. It makes basic needs more inaccessible, increases surveillance and gives government and private companies more control over people. As society moves in an increasingly technologically dependent direction, people are relying on cashless payments for convenience and ease. But this current wave of invisible currency, which stands in the shadow as the pandemic’s primary use, becomes a gaping hole when it comes to homeless and low-income people of the city.

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For Disabled People, Things Will Get Ugly Under “Big, Beautiful” Act 

by Contributing Author

by Jack Bragen

Donald Trump just signed his big bill. It isn’t a “beautiful bill.” It is a crime against the American middle class and poor. And we are in a war of misinformation—but that’s beside the point. This will impact me as a disabled writer, and it won’t be “beautiful” at all.

I am at the bottom, and I can attest from that perspective to all of the power-hungry politicians who want in on the political and monetary pie.

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