A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness
by Armando Martinez, Flo Kelly, and Colleen McCarthy
Berryessa safe RV parking site in San Jose. Photo by Flo Kelly.
What happens when you are called to a ministry? You follow the way of love, compassion, and empathy without constraints of time and expense, finding peace and satisfaction in helping someone else get through the day—pure selflessness. On the other hand, a new job, no matter how committed you might be to the issue or sector,
by Colleen McCarthy
Berryessa safe RV parking site. Photo by Flo Kelly
The first Safe Parking Program in the United States was pioneered in Santa Barbara in 2004 by a group of activists and is now run by New Beginnings (Lewis et al., 2024; Ray Ivey & Gilleland, 2018). Safe parking is usually designed to offer a transitional space for car and RV residents to park at night (and sometimes 24/7) to avoid parking regulations and offer a safe location with access to basic services like water,
No human should have to live on the streets. Yet, as low income households in the United States face growing disparity between income and rents, so does homelessness. High rents are the single determinator of homeless rates. The antidote is not that complicated—invest in housing that is affordable to the bottom third of the income ladder. Instead, the last half century trend has been for our leaders to vacillate between immoral inaction and blaming poor people for their poverty.
by Cathleen Williams
On Wednesday, January 7, 2026, a cold and wintry dusk closed over Sacramento, California. This was the day that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) killed Renee Nicole Good in cold blood, in her car as she pulled away from the site of an ICE raid in Minneapolis. There were stuffed animals spilling out of the glovebox and a friendly dog in the back seat. Renee’s killing ignited protests across the country.
by Jordan Wasilewski
On Saturday, December 20, as I was preparing to go to punk and black metal shows in the East Bay, my power went out, along with about 130,000 of my fellow San Franciscans’. PG&E’s substation at Eighth and Mission streets had a huge fire thanks to the utility company’s deferred maintenance. While we technically have public power, PG&E still owns the infrastructure, and public power advocates have long demanded that the City take it over.
by Christin Evans
As tenant activists decry development plan, one supe looks to drafting ballot measure as an alternative
In a heated session of the Board of Supervisors’ December 2 meeting, Mayor Daniel Lurie’s controversial “family zoning plan” to upzone the western and northern sides of San Francisco passed on a 7–4 vote. The board’s more left-leaning supervisors—Connie Chan, Chyanne Chen, Shamann Walton and Jackie Fielder—voted to oppose the plan.
by Marisa Kendall, CalMatters
Gov. Gavin Newsom, Santa Clara County and San Francisco are suing the Trump administration over a huge shift in homelessness policy.
California is fighting back after President Donald Trump’s administration instigated homeless housing cuts that local service providers said would be “devastating.”
Two recently filed lawsuits accuse the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development of illegally going over Congress’ head to make massive changes to the way federal homelessness funds are distributed.
by Loretta Nicole Overton
Querida, te amo, they call us the Goonie generation—the ones who say “never say die.” The NeverEnding Story generation.
I’m writing this for anyone who has lost someone to the streets, to addiction, or to forgetting.
I’m writing it for the people who loved them anyway.
You had so many names.
story and photos by Sarah Menefee
It’s the only moral solution
A woman is harassed by cops during the sweep of a San Francisco alley
Today as more and more of us find ourselves ‘a paycheck away’ from the streets, homelessness is a death sentence for many and a glaring and appalling absurdity in this richest and most powerful nation in the world – one that has lost its heart and soul as the billionaire class plays royalty and as millions struggle and fall.
by NS
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;
