Women and Children First … or Every Man for Himself?

by Olivia Glowacki and Tracey Mixon

Don’t Wait Until We Break!

On Wednesday May 4, homeless and formerly homeless moms, children, and individuals converged on San Francisco’s City Hall to deliver one message, loud and clear: “Our mothers need housing.” The action was designed and carried out by unhoused members, mostly moms.  In planning the action, they talked about how being homeless is literally breaking their mental health and came up with the slogan “Don’t Wait Until We Break”

Age-old sayings tell us to save “mothers and children first” in any crisis or catastrophe.

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Housing is Safety

by TJ Johnston

Four walls. A roof. Doors that can be locked with a key. These are things that provide you with security, safety and stability when you’re housed. It’s easy to take these feelings for granted. I sure did until I lost my housing, and I had to struggle to keep my security, safety and stability in my newly unhoused state.  

Now, imagine if you’re trying to avoid some asshole who’s harassing or bullying you,

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How Housing Choice Vouchers Saved My Family

by Dempsey "Sunbear" Jackson

In 2011, I was homeless and addicted to methamphetamines. That year, I found out that my girlfriend of 10 years, Amy, was pregnant with our son, Marley. We went to Jelani House, a rehabilitation program, to try to prepare for our son’s arrival. But when we showed up, the shelter wouldn’t let me bring my service dog inside. Instead, I had to stay on the street and try to get clean alone while taking care of our dogs,

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Fighting to Survive

by Quiver Watts
A rooster stands atop a skull wearing a hat that reads "ICE", with handcuffs lying beside it. The image is framed by cacti and a scorpion.

Content warning: The stories throughout this issue may be especially activating for some readers. Many of these pieces involve descriptions of traumatic experiences including sexual violence, domestic violence, sexual exploitation, queer/transphobic violence, in addition to the violence of states and false borders.

I came to the United States five years ago from Uganda with an invitation from my husband who had secured a visa a few years back. My husband and I were both brought up at a children’s home in Kampala.

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Thing Took a Turn

by Jocey
A rooster stands atop a skull wearing a hat that reads "ICE", with handcuffs lying beside it. The image is framed by cacti and a scorpion.

Content warning: The stories throughout this issue may be especially activating for some readers. Many of these pieces involve descriptions of traumatic experiences including sexual violence, domestic violence, sexual exploitation, queer/transphobic violence, in addition to the violence of states and false borders.

The rate of homelessness in San Francisco is currently alarming and it’s quite unfortunate that I have been a victim of it. My name is Jocey, a 28-year-old divorcee,

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Their Original Faces

by Jesse Mentken

I have not been homeless in almost a decade. 

But my homelessness was deeply influenced by the fact that my mother was homeless before me, for many years.

I loved her so much. When your own mother hits the streets, you learn something. When she was homeless, a part of me was homeless.

That is actually how the Buddha sees homelessness: If you suffer, I can embrace that. This is not an embrace as if it is a burden.

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Looking Back In Anger At Homelessness

by Detroit Richards

Originally published on thepaltrysum.com

In the middle of the storm it is hard to see the wood for the trees, the wind from the rain or the good from the bad. I lived in that storm for most of my adult life, and it is only in the last week that I have been inside looking out at the storm from a position of relative safety that I have been able to take stock.

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Re-Fund the Community: San Francisco Budget Victories, 2020

by Jennifer Friedenbach
An older woman stands with a face mask and a sign that reads "ring the bell to support funding for homeless families"

San Francisco, like many cities, is in a challenging place economically with over 200,000 workers on unemployment, a $1.5 billion deficit due to loss revenue, and exponentially higher needs for city services such as rental assistance, health care, child care and other city essential activities.    San Francisco has a very unique budget process, where the legislative branch receives the budget from the much more powerful executive branch and has the opportunity to cut things out of the Mayor’s budget in order to fund other things they deem as higher priorities. 

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NEW COUNT FOR THE HOMELESS

by Quiver Watts
A red house contains the words "Point In Time Count" with a family silhouetted within the letter "O"

By Darnell Boyd

The homeless population has grown to 9,800 people — how did this happen?

I’ll tell you how: Our elected officials feel as though the homelessness problem is too great for them. My answer to them is, if so, then you should resign and let someone else who can fix it have your job. Quit catering to the special interest groups, pull up your sleeves and get to work.

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Art Student Creates Children’s Book About Homelessness

by Amber Cavarlez

What better way to foster a community of empathetic and understanding individuals than by shaping the perspective of our children, who will one day act as allies, friends, leaders, freethinkers and aware members of society?

This is the question Mike Boyce, a senior at California College of the Arts double majoring in Graphic Design and Illustration, focuses on in his final project—a children’s book that tries to make visible what many people intentionally hope remains invisible: homelessness.

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