Category: Testimony

I knew her from the warming shelter. On the nights when I dropped in to help, she was often there. So cheerful. Always polite. We could only speak through the translation app on the phone, but we used it. We had several conversations. She worked during the days, at odd jobs she could find, some of them housecleaning. Being able to find work was very important to her. It’s hard to work when you don’t have a place to keep your belongings during the day. There are many who are unhoused who would like to work, but can’t manage it… read more

Article 1 Section 1 of the California State Constitution was recently brought to my attention. It reads: “All people are by nature free and independent and have inalienable rights. Among these are enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety, happiness, and privacy.” When delivering water last week, we were excited to bring a bike procured for someone in need of one. When we found him, we saw his tent and belongings had been burned entirely by another person. When the fire trucks came the night before, he and his neighbor told… read more

On a recent hot day, I set out with a friend to deliver water, ice, and fruit to unhoused communities near me. At our second stop, the elder who normally receives the water and makes sure it’s shared with the many others around him, was gone. All of his area was emptied and swept clean as though a city crew had been there. But the adjacent area on both sides looked as it always had, drawing a stark straight line between the grouping of shelters and the now bare pavement. Stunned, I asked the woman sitting nearby where he went…. read more

A man died during a sweep last week. Some, but far from all, of the displaced people from the sweep were moved into transitional housing. Others had to find somewhere else to go, where they may be swept again in another week or another month. The man who died had been through two sweeps in recent weeks, losing belongings each time, including a van. He was not one of the ones being offered a legal or transitional space. He was only being helped by people with lived experience and advocates to move his belongings yet again, and they didn’t have… read more