A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness
The paper is published by the Coalition on Homelessness, a policy and advocacy organization that fights for housing justice and human rights of San Franciscans.
The Street Sheet is an independent street newspaper dedicated to covering issues of homelessness and poverty in San Francisco from the voices of homeless people themselves.
Street Sheet vendors sell the paper and receive 100% of everything they sell, providing them with employment and a source of income.
The Street Sheet hosts creative writing, poetry, and journalism workshops, fostering community, creativity and expression.
by Tiny
The Federal Government’s Attempt to Starve us and the Emergency Need for our Own Self-determined Solutions
SNAP or no SNAP
These weren’t life sustaining plans
Only bits and pieces of a weallthhoarding trap
To make us feel like we had a life raft
An option to dying of hunger even tho we all pay their pinche tax
What’s happening republiCRAPS –
by Lupe Velez
The last three weeks has been a large-scale humanitarian crisis, with hundreds of thousands of low-income Bay Area residents and millions of Americans being locked out from accessing food.
In mid-October, federal officials announced that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits funds would be halted starting November 1 due to the government shutdown, potentially leaving 48 million Americans without access to governmental assistance for groceries.
by Jason Albertson
EDITOR’S NOTE: Jason Albertson, a clinical social worker and long-time homeless advocate, died on October 25, 2025. Jason was well known to go to bat for unhoused people, stand up to injustice and engage in nonjudgmental care. His work led countless humans off the streets to have an opportunity to recover and thrive. He was so important to San Francisco and will be dearly missed. Below is a story of Jason’s that Street Sheet originally published in the April 1997 edition.
story and photo by Cathleen Williams
“I cannot live without my freedom, and I will not live without freedom,” says Street Sheet vendor Jessica in Sacramento. Here, she sits with Felipe.
Freedom of movement is a fundamental right of residents on American soil. The right extends to all, including people who live outside on our streets and open public spaces.
It’s a bedrock principle, embedded in our consciousness and our culture,
by David Pentland
The following article is part of INSP’s Changing the Narrative series. It has been written as the result of the new journalism training academy, established in 2025 by INSP to provide people with direct experience of homelessness and poverty the opportunity to learn about journalism and the media, and to enhance their storytelling and written abilities. The training academy has two ambitions: to challenge media and public misconceptions about homelessness;
