A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness
by Jordan Wasilewski
In springtime of 2025, the conversation around sober and recovery housing continues from San Francisco to Sacramento. Matt Haney’s Assembly Bill 255 allows cities and counties to set aside up to 25% of state homelessness funds for sober living quarters. The set-aside is not required: It’s merely an ask for permission to allocate funding for up to 25% of permanent supportive housing units of funds for sober living,
by the Western Regional Advocacy Project
When the Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP) says “we,” we literally mean every single group and person that built and sustained our community organization for the past 20 years!
In 2005, representatives from seven organizations along the West Coast began strategizing around how to address the root causes of homelessness, starting with the actual day-to-day realities people experience in the streets.
“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.
by Jack Bragen
Once, violence toward me was a normal fact of life. In my youth, I was seen as smaller, thus an easy target. At 60, I don’t stand out any longer as a person toward whom to be violent, but this attitude of total disrespect of a major, fundamental boundary still affects me. Yet, I need to say two things about normalizing violence. My neighborhood in Martinez normalized violence toward others in general,
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,
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.
by Cathleen Williams, Homeward Street Journal
Protests have ignited across the nation in the first weeks of Donald Trump’s second presidency, with protests against Trump’s deportation policies taking place in Arizona, Arkansas, Missouri, Georgia and North Carolina. In Los Angeles, protesters shut down U.S. Highway 101 on February 2 to bring awareness to the threats to migrant and immigrant populations.
Hundreds of Californians of diverse ages and ethnicities rallied at the state capitol in Sacramento on February 5 to bring attention to this and other developments.
by Tiny
The flames of intense heat dehydrate
The water from floods drown our outside spaces
The Cold seeps into our torn clothes
Way down deep to our tired bones
The tornado winds
The sun beats in
The smoke will choke
But none so hard as the
by Jack Bragen
Where I live it is expected—if not outright required—that tenants do not bring strangers into the building. This precaution adds to our safety, and it helps the owners of the building prevent mishaps, such as fire or flooding. Damage means money spent. But from the tenants’ perspective, damage to the building or to innocent bystanders could bring bigger consequences: eviction leading to displacement to the street or worse.
by Jack Bragen
When I was young, in my 20s, I took pride in being able to get letters to the editor published. For a young adult with severe psychiatric illness, a letter to the editor in a paper is pretty good, but I wanted more. I really wanted to become a writer. Occasionally I submitted stories to publications, and considering the level of the writing I produced back then, I stood little or no chance of getting something accepted.
