More from The Appeal:
Eric Garcetti, who may be considered for a position in the administration, is out of touch with the city’s working class and poor people, activists say. And they fear he’ll bring that sensibility to national politics.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | December 3, 2020
Cities across the country have continued to displace and criminalize homelessness during the pandemic, though the CDC cautions clearing encampments can heighten the potential for the spread of COVID-19.
Meg O'Connor | December 2, 2020
Governor Newsom should sign the CRISES Act into law this week and invest in community partners who support people in crisis situations.
Asantewaa Boykin | September 29, 2020
The Trump administration mishandled COVID-19, creating conditions that left transgender people even more vulnerable to housing instability than before. Now it’s pushing for a rule change that would allow homeless shelters to discriminate against trans people.
In order to get real about addressing homelessness in America, we need to get real about how we have demonized, dehumanized, and criminalized the presence of unhoused people in our local community.
A June report from the county’s independent judicial arm urges local government to reallocate law enforcement resources to social services.
Ella Fassler | July 31, 2020
Housing rights activists in California are pushing for taxation of rich residents to help the hundreds of thousands of people who may be at risk of losing housing after COVID-19 eviction restrictions end.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | July 27, 2020
Hundreds were forced from an encampment to fenced-in, asphalt parking lots with no shade in Phoenix’s triple-digit summer heat. At least three people have died.
Meg O'Connor | July 24, 2020
Police should no longer occupy all of our vital support systems in our communities.
Alex S. Vitale | July 20, 2020
Tens of thousands of people in Los Angeles County are at high risk for becoming homeless after the temporary halt on evictions is lifted—one of the largest mass displacements the region has ever seen.
The frustrations of residents in the Powderhorn neighborhood, not far from where George Floyd was killed, have gotten some national coverage. But the homelessness crisis in the city isn’t new, and it could soon get worse.
Rachel M. Cohen | July 15, 2020
Many city residents who’ve served time for sexual crimes have families who want them back, but a 19-year-old law keeps them away.
Steven Yoder | July 8, 2020
The nation has an opportunity to take advantage of this transformative event and pursue an alternative to the current system.
David A. Love | June 30, 2020
Making our communities safe requires not only the defunding of police departments, but also dismantling discriminatory laws that target survival activities such as sleeping, sitting, lying down, and eating in public space.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate crisis are both provoked by natural phenomena, the dangers they present are just as political as the crisis of police violence.
Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò | June 16, 2020
The country’s homeless population was already struggling to access services during the pandemic.
Kira Lerner | June 10, 2020
This weekend’s string of errors is just the latest in his career of cruelty.
Jonny Coleman | June 4, 2020
Health officials say hand washing is key to avoiding the novel coronavirus, but millions of homeless people continue to have little or no access to hygiene stations.
Elizabeth Brico | May 29, 2020
The city is flouting CDC guidance by continuing to dismantle homeless encampments during the COVID-19 pandemic, though it does not have nearly enough shelter space.
Meg O'Connor | May 28, 2020
Expansion of an existing federal rental subsidy program, the Housing Choice Voucher, could stabilize housing for millions of households.
There are certain universal human needs that any governing structure — from local to federal — is responsible for. Among these are housing, healthcare, education, public parks, clean water, and clean air — the things that make life beautiful. These needs touch every single living being and as such, are non-negotiable. They do not belong on the open market.
Elected officials need to stop making excuses for not getting unhoused people into hotel rooms.
Jonny Coleman | April 24, 2020
The Bureau of Prisons could send those without homes to alternative halfway houses far from D.C. or back to prison at the end of the month.
Kira Lerner | April 23, 2020
As the coronavirus crisis continues to expand, it is clear that America needs a robust assistance program for the most vulnerable, such as the elderly and physically disabled, to ensure they have what they need to survive. The health, safety, and stability of all communities depend on it.
Rashida Tlaib | April 23, 2020
Taking emergency measures to protect homeless people from the pandemic is simply common sense.
Jonathan Ben-Menachem | April 14, 2020
Advocates say the “progressive” city has left them to die.
Rebecca Chowdhury | April 14, 2020
On the intersection of two public health crises: housing and COVID-19.
Jonny Coleman | April 9, 2020
This is still a severely inadequate response to this deadly pandemic. The Mayor has both the power and the obligation to house every single person in hotels; failing to do so puts thousands of lives at risk.
Quiver Watts | April 7, 2020
To leave hundreds of people in mass congregate shelters could be a death sentence for many of our vulnerable neighbors.
Quiver Watts | April 6, 2020