God and Me in 2023

by Lawrence Hollins

Today I’m turning the page, and I thank God for setting me free from that cage, and not sending me to my grave, because I had a crave, I was in a daze, and I walked around in a maze for days

My father God said it was just a phase, and that’s why you’re able to turn the page

From that ghetto vacation,

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Shattered Illusion of a Perfect City

by Lisa Willis

On February 2, 2021, my life took a sharp left turn, and I wasn’t ready for it! 

As I’ve written before, my mom and I struggled a lot with homelessness, and often relied on each other to survive. But we were doing ok. My mom was working from home, and I had a job at a casino. The pandemic lockdown was coming to an end, at least in Reno,

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Death on the Streets: An American Tragedy

by Israel Bayer

Thousands of people die homeless every year in the U.S. In this piece, Israel Bayer, who leads INSP’s North American project, and has worked with street papers and people experiencing homelessness for more than two decades, recounts instances where his work brought him face to face with this terrible reality. 

The winter of 2017 Portland, Oregon was hit with an unusually long ice storm.

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Disability Apartheid

by Anonymous

Few people believe disability rights is a racial justice issue. On face value, it isn’t. But did you know, although less than 3% of the total population,  Black San Franciscans are twice as likely to be disabled than white San Franciscans?

How is this possible? How can somebody’s race make them more likely to be disabled or not?

While I don’t have all the answers to that question,

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Essential Food and Medicine at Work on Wood Street

by Areli Hernandez

Until recently more than 4,000 homeless people had been living at a large encampment on Wood Street in West Oakland. That number has been reduced to around 50 by repeated sweeps led by CalTrans, which have displaced many former community members. A neighborhood nonprofit called Essential Food and Medicine, or EFAM, helps encampment residents by distributing healthy foods and medicines. The group’s main aim is to reduce homelessness in the Bay Area. 

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