A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness
By Andy Howard
First installment:
Will was entranced in his thoughts, mesmerized by the rattling, clanging, window vibrating noises coming from the metal behemoth that was the backbone of the local public transportation system, servicing the 49-square mile area of the iconic City of San Francisco.
It had been a long day. He awoke at 5 a.m., met with the group of homeless individuals that resided within a block or two of his own lean-to,
by Ian James
Band members chatted as they tuned their instruments, local artists sold hand printed posters and zines, and people continued to flow into Medicine for Nightmares, the bookstore hosting Denhi Donis’ birthday fundraiser.
Donis, better known as the Flower Lady, is fighting her second Ellis Act eviction in two years. She came to San Francisco 25 years ago from Chicago, fleeing domestic violence. She quickly became a fixture in the Mission community,
By: Johanna Elattar
The morning sun is shining through the windows of my mother’s small Brooklyn apartment. It feels like it’ll be a scorching August day, and I’ve been up for hours. I live in upstate New York, but I love coming back to Brooklyn to visit my mother, and to spend a few days in the city. The landline she refuses to get rid of rings and I quickly answer it. I recognize the voice on the other end right away: It’s Bettina,
By Detroit Richards
San Francisco, once famous for the Summer of Love, beautiful views from the hills, and stunning architecture, is now known for having a large amount of human excrement on the streets, unchecked open drug use, and fearsome rates of overdose deaths and criminal activity. Fingers are unfairly pointed at the homeless population, who are scapegoated as the cause of all of society’s problems, and as a result the animosity towards those who are unhoused in the city continues to escalate.
by Ben Judd
As pandemic relief efforts come to a close in this city, the future of solutions to homelessness is uncertain. Frustratingly, it has taken emergency responses to life-or-death illness to effectively address the problem.
The recent Point-in-Time (PIT) survey findings show that unhoused people have been relying on safe-sleeping locations that opened during the pandemic. As these sites close, people will be forced to once again search for a safe place to rest.
