Talk to Me

by Tatiana Lyulkin

It’s not a good time

To bring up the things

We’ve lost-

A cup of black coffee

And a hug

Are all I need.

When the night

Grows silent and cold

And no one

Remembers our names

Or what we used to be

Knowing that you’re real

And you truly care

Gives me the strength

To survive another day. 

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WRAP Hits a Milestone: 20 Years of Unhoused People Fighting for Dignity and Respect

by the Western Regional Advocacy Project

When the Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP) says “we,” we literally mean every single group and person that built and sustained our community organization for the past 20 years!

In 2005, representatives from seven organizations along the West Coast began strategizing around how to address the root causes of homelessness, starting with the actual day-to-day realities people experience in the streets.

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What Militarized Policing of Homelessness Looks Like

By Nicole Rowland and Lukas Illa 

Banner hung at Lake Merritt in Oakland on April 22, 2025. Courtesy of Western Regional Advocacy Project.

The following speech was delivered at a teach-in sponsored by the Western Regional Advocacy Project and other organizations at Lake Merritt in Oakland, California on April 22, 2025. The teach-in was part of a nationwide effort to educate people about the impact of sweeps had on unsheltered people since last year’s Supreme Court ruling on Grants Pass v.

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Dorsey’s “Recovery First” Policy Amended Significantly Thanks to Treatment on Demand Coalition’s Advocacy

by Lupe Velez

The Board of Supervisors Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee sent Supervisor Matt Dorsey’s proposed “Recovery First” ordinance to the full board at its April 24 meeting. But not before the measure went through redefining the term “recovery” from substance use disorder and dozens of members from the Treatment on Demand (TOD) coalition sounded off during public comment.

For several months, several public health organizations and advocacy groups comprising Treatment on Demand fought the policy over its definition of recovery—an abstinence-only model—and its potentially dangerous impacts on drug users

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