A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness
story and photos by Madi Koesler
With D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) now under federal control and the National Guard coming to D.C., the fate of people living in encampments remains up in the air.
During a press conference on 11 August, President Donald Trump said that law enforcement had already begun to clear encampments, but Street Sense has been unable to confirm this,
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.
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,
by Tatiana Lyulkin
I became “vulnerable” very late in life, after my parents died in 2014 and in 2016, and I lost what was basically “their” apartment in Daly City in 2017. I’m not spoiled or lazy, just disabled. So with my parents gone, my Social Supplemental Income check is my only source of income. But last month I got a letter from the SSI telling me I was overpaid and I owe them $10,000 because my studio has a kitchen.
By Marisa Kendall/CalMatters
President Donald Trump’s new law-and-order approach to homelessness bears several striking resemblances to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s.
Trump wants cities to enforce laws that make it illegal for homeless people to sleep outside. So does Newsom.
Trump threatened to withhold funding from places that don’t. So did Newsom.
And the president wants to make it easier to force homeless people living with serious mental illness or addiction into treatment.
