Street Speak

On Today's episode we will be speaking to the Lucia Obregon, the director at the San Francisco Latino Party and Equity Coalition (SFLPEC) a citywide coalition of more than 22 Latinx-led and Latinx serving community based agencies, she is also the appointed commissioner for the immigrant rights commission of San Francisco, a volunteer with the Building Community Collective and lastly an artist and of the lead singers of the band Inti Mystica. We will be discussing how SFLPEC'S member agencies center unhoused communities in their work, the rise in family homelessness within the immigrant community and the ways that SFLPEC and the immigrants rights commission address this.Support the show

In this episode, we delve into the intersectionality of homelessness and the Black experience with two prominent leaders in the fight for social justice and housing equity: Shellena Eskridge, Executive Director of the Homeless Prenatal Program (HPP), and Joe Wilson, the Executive Director of Hospitality House. Shellena, a San Francisco native who is a passionate advocate for families, is leading HPP into a new era of hope and transformation for the Bay Area's most vulnerable families. Joe Wilson, who leads Hospitality House with over 40 years of experience in community based solutions. Together, they'll discuss the challenges Black individuals face in the homelessness crisis, the historical context behind these disparities, and the innovative, community-driven solutions that can pave the way forward.Join us as we explore how these leaders are working to break the cycle of poverty and homelessness, share their vision for a more equitable future, and offer insight into how the community can come together to provide lasting solutions.Support the show

Today's episode features some incredible poets reading their pieces aloud. To read these poems and many others, check out our full 2023 poetry edition of the Street Sheet, available at streetsheet.orgFeatured Poets:Virginia BarrettDee AllenJohanna ElattarDetroit RichardsAaone EnosaRevolt Martine KhumaloLisa WillisSubmit Your Writing!Street Sheet is always accepting submissions of poetry, personal stories, and news articles for our bi-monthly newspaper, which supports the survival and well-being of over 100 hundred vendors. To submit your work or to pitch us an idea for a story, visit our website. Support for Street Speak comes from our listeners! Please donate to us online at https://coalition.networkforgood.comSupport the show

On September 27th, the ACLU, Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights, and the Coalition on Homelessness—the organization that creates this podcast—filed a lawsuit against the City of San Francisco. They, and the seven homeless plaintiffs they represent, allege that the constant "sweeps" of homeless encampments carried out by numerous city agencies are unconstitutional. We speak with Zal Shroff and Hadley Rood, lawyers with the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights (LCCR), as well as with plaintiff and homeless activist Toro Castaño, about what this lawsuit could mean for the thousands of unsheltered San Franciscans who call this city home. To support the lawsuit, please report any encampment sweeps you see to the legal team using this form: https://forms.gle/fSUgkK1TEUVk7fLW6Today's weather report is brought to you by Revolt, an activist, rapper, singer, illustrator, journalist and all-around troublemaker, who rouses the rabble with the arts that he dabbles in. This new track "She's Homeless" is inspired by and builds on an original song by Crystal Waters. You can find more like this at revoltrightnow.comSupport the show

This podcast is created by the same people who bring you the Street Sheet, San Francisco's street newspaper.  This year's April Fools Day issue hits the streets of San Francisco full of comics that were compiled and submitted by A.B.O. Comix, a collective of creators and activists who work to amplify the voices of LGBTQ prisoners through art. On today's episode, we speak with Casper Cendre, the director and a co-founder of A.B.O. Comix,  a project dedicated to supporting queer and trans artists in prison and creating a world beyond our carceral system. A.B.O. Comix 5th comic anthology is available now on their website! This book features accomplished cartoonists and first time doodlers in an effort to amplify the voices of LGBTQ+ prisoners . Proceeds from this anthology go back to the contributors so that they can access commissary & gender affirming items, healthcare and legal support. GET INVOLVED!You can find ways to get involved on the A.B.O. Comix website! You can volunteer to be a penpal to one of the many incarcerated artists the collective works with, or buy some incredible merch to support their work, including comic anthologies, prints, T-shirts, and more. You can also offer up your skills to find out how to best support this project!https://www.abocomix.com/A.B.O. Comix also has a Patreon! When you donate to the Patreon you not only get some awesome perks, but you also know that your money is going directly into commissary accounts for incarcerated artists, as well as toward supporting the visionary work of the collective.https://www.patreon.com/abocomixYou can also offer up your skills to find out how to best support this project! Send them an email at abocomix@gmail.comWEATHER REPORTMia Pixley uses her cello, voice, and music performance to study and represent aspects of self and other, community, and the natural world. You heard “Good Taste” off her album Margaret in the Wild. You can see Mia Pixley perform live at Cesar Chavez Memorial Solar Calendar in Berkeley on April 16th at 6pm! To find her music and learn about upcoming shows, visit miapixley.comSUPPORT THE PODCASTSupport for Street Speak comes from our listeners! Please donate to us online at https://coalition.networkforgood.comSupport the show (https://coalition.networkforgood.com/)

Today's episode features some incredible poets reading their pieces aloud. To read these poems and many others, check out our full poetry edition of the Street Sheet, available at streetsheet.orgFeatured Poets:Kevin Madrigal GalindoDetroit RichardsJonah RaskinJudy Joy JonesJohanna ElattarRevolt Right NowVirginia BarrettSubmit Your Writing!Street Sheet is always accepting submissions of poetry, personal stories, and news articles for our bi-monthly newspaper, which supports the survival and well-being of over 100 hundred vendors. To submit your work or to pitch us an idea for a story, visit our website. Support for Street Speak comes from our listeners! Please donate to us online at https://coalition.networkforgood.comSupport the show (https://coalition.networkforgood.com/)

The overdose crisis claimed the lives of 700 San Franciscans in 2020—twice the number of COVID-19 deaths during the same period. Poverty, criminalization, and the demonization of people who use drugs has put our community members in greater danger, and the stigma surrounding drug use has stalled meaningful efforts to create services and implement policies that will save lives.We speak with Ashley Fairburn—a harm reduction worker at the San Francisco AIDs Foundation—about what the overdose crisis is, the disparate impact it has on homeless San Franciscans, and how we can practice harm reduction in our own communities.Learn more!The San Francisco AIDs Foundation has so much helpful information about the overdose crisis and many programs to help keep people who use drugs safe. https://www.sfaf.org/Resources:Never Use Alone— call this number to let them know if you're going to use, and they will call back to check on you in a few minutes 1(808)484-3731TED Talk by Dr. Carl Hart— https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9HMifCoSkoWeather report brought to you by Ivan and The Be Extra Terrestrials (The Be.E.T.s), an American band formed in Riverside, California, in 2005 by singer-songwriter multi-instrumentalist producer Ivan Gomez. The band is currently based in Oakland, CA. The sole member of band, Ivan writes, records, engineers, and produces all tracks except where noted, despite the plural moniker. The fruit of the ear loins of a chronically depressed melancholic loner, Ivan attempts to convey what makes him tick.Support for Street Speak comes from our listeners! Please donate to us online at https://coalition.networkforgood.comSupport the show (https://coalition.networkforgood.com/)

At the height of the Delta variant spike, the City of San Francisco announced plans to close down the Shelter in Place Hotels that had kept about 2,000 people safe and off the streets over the course of the past year. We spoke with Lina Khoeur, a fourth year medical student at UCSF, and with Naomi Shoenfeld, a medical anthropologist and nurse practitioner who has been working and researching in the SIP hotels. Both of them shared what they have seen of the benefits the SIP hotel program  has offered to tenants, and why they are asking the City to #KeepHotelsOpen.UPDATE: Since the interviews were conducted the City announced a short three month extension of the program thanks to community pressure. But the extension mat not be enough—hotels should stay open until all tenants are placed in safe and permanent housing.Learn more!Presentation on the study of SIP Hotels conducted by Naomi Shoenfeld and Dr Elizabeth Abbs - https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1EV0V765rC9Yk46ZMfpye8hJErbS6Ezbk/Get Involved!Sign up for the Coalition on Homelessness ACTION ALERTS here: https://www.cohsf.org/take-action/Weather report brought to you by Bella Hangnail, off her new album Mask Era. Listen to the full album here: https://bellahangnail.bandcamp.com/Support for Street Speak comes from our listeners! Please donate to us online at https://coalition.networkforgood.comSupport the show (https://coalition.networkforgood.com/)

This episode features an interview with Paul Boden of Western Regional Advocacy Project, a local organization coordinating a regional response to the criminalization of homeless people. We talk about Business Improvement Districts, the shadowy private entities that are turning neighborhoods across the country into outdoor malls - and determining who has access to spaces that were once public. Get Involved!Western Regional Advocacy Project: https://wraphome.org/Learn more about Business Improvement Districts (AKA Homeless Exclusion Districts): https://wraphome.org/homeless-exclusion-districs/Weather report brought to you by Mega Bloom, a local preschool teacher and musician whose new album is coming out this winter. Hear their first album Music for Little Sprouts here: https://megabloomsmusic.bandcamp.comSupport for Street Speak comes from our listeners! Please donate to us online at https://coalition.networkforgood.com/Support the show (https://coalition.networkforgood.com/)

This episode features an interview with Celestina Pearl, the Outreach director at St. James Infirmary. She spoke with Street Speak about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sex workers in San Francisco, the history of SESTA/FOSTA, the connections between homelessness and sex work, and the incredible mutual aid work that is sustaining sex workers during this challenging time. Get Involved!St James Infirmary: https://www.stjamesinfirmary.org/RAD Mission Neighbors: https://radmissionneighbors.org/Learn about SB 357 to decriminalize sex work in California: https://sd11.senate.ca.gov/news/20210310-senator-wiener-introduces-legislation-repeal-discriminatory-law-prohibiting-loiteringWeather report brought to you by InoPoGu (Inocente Po Guizar), a Mexican trans queer person who's very outspoken about gentrification, got gentrified out of the bay, and is currently seeing some horrible gentrification and gentrification attempts in New Orleans. They are lightweight homeless/couch surfing, and ask listeners to please share their music and art! https://inopogu.bandcamp.com/Support for Street Speak comes from our listeners! Please donate to us online at https://coalition.networkforgood.com/Support the show (https://coalition.networkforgood.com/)

This episode is a pre-recorded panel hosted by the Housing Justice Workgroup of the Coalition on Homelessness, San Francisco exploring the panelists own experiences with racism and homelessness. The speakers draw connections between racism, structural causes of homelessness such as neoliberalism and the defunding of housing investments for poor communities, the use of homeless people as a political wedge by monied interests as a smokescreen for racism, the disproportionate impact homelessness has on brown and especially black communities and why/how racist policies such as redlining have led to the lack of accumulated wealth in the Black community and where we should go from here. Speakers include Joe Wilson, Director of Hospitality House, long time Housing Justice member Andrea Mayfield, Youth leader Malcolm Mobley, Jameel Patterson, son of late Mother Brown who founded United Council of Human Services. The panel is moderated by Laura Guzman, founder of Mission Neighborhood Resources Center, and currently of the Harm Reduction Coalition. This panel has been shortened for the purposes of our podcast, but the full recording is available on the Coalition's Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/140260129335933/videos/461067321688418The weather report is from Equipto & Michael Marshalls album Kim-3. Sigue La Movida. Song called “in their shoes” featuring Tony Robles.Support the show (https://coalition.networkforgood.com/)

This episode dives into the reality of life inside San Francisco's Shelter in Place (SIP) Hotel program. There are 2,400 formerly unhoused people currently staying in SIP hotel rooms in San Francisco, and while the City has committed to housing most of them, the details of where and how that will happen are unclear. We'll hear first from Mary Crisis, a former SIP hotel worker who penned a damning open letter about the conditions in the hotels which you can read on their twitter page @jfchrist. Then we speak with SIP hotel tenant Nicholas Garrett about the necessity of the SIP Hotel program as well as the violations he has witnessed inside. The weather report is brought to you by Ezra Teshome, a singer songwriter out of San Francisco. Their Ethiopian ancestry and exposure to old folk, blues, and electronic music are major influences for their work. Listen to more music by Ezra Teshome on their website: https://www.ezrateshomemusic.com/Want to get answers to your burning questions about poverty and homelessness? Have thoughts and feelings about our show? Let us know at bit.ly/streetspeakSupport the show (https://coalition.networkforgood.com/)

Episode 4 - Why Do You Need Housing?September 22, 2020HOUSING IN THE TIME OF COVID-19, AND WHY IT MATTERSA panel discussion hosted by House the Bay with unhoused San Franciscans speaking about the urgent need for housing. This conversation happened August 13th and the full video can be viewed on House the Bay's Facebook or Instagram. PANELISTS:COUPER ORONAhttps://www.couperwashere.com/Couper is a disabled firefighter and street medic offering care to other unhoused San Franciscans. On May 1st she was part of the home takeover that launched House the Bay, and has since returned to living in her RV and doing outreach in San Francisco. SHY BROWNhttps://www.streetsheet.org/im-a-survivor/Shy is a journalist with the Street Sheet publication and an outreach worker in the Tenderloin. She has spent many years without permanent housing in San Francisco and now lives in an SRO.DONALD A. FRANKLINhttps://pad.riseup.net/p/donaldfranklinDonald is a native San Franciscan and lives with his dog Sasha. He holds numerous degrees, and is a former police officer currently working towards disbanding the SFPD and shutting down its POA. Don is the founder and executive director of the Every Twenty-Eight Foundation, a non-profit focusing on the upliftment, education, well being, and protection of black and brown people.House the Bay is a group of housed and unhoused community members who are tired of waiting for our cities to address the very immediate need for housing. To learn more about House the Bay or to organize with us, visit housethebay.org !-- the Weather Report --Revolt is an "uppity crip"- an SF activist, rapper, singer, illustrator, journalist, and all-around troublemaker who rouses the rabble with the arts that he dabbles in. His brand-new first release "REVILLISION" was crafted with painstaking detail over a period of seven years. It's a grimy, artistic tour de force featuring 14 superb tracks of resilience, heart, and badassery traversing the full gamut of our emotional spectrum. The album can be purchased through www.RevoltRightNow.com and is currently only available as a deluxe full-color package on CD. The album boasts original drawings and collages by the artist himself in a 6-panel Digipak casing with a full color 8-page booklet. Revolt gives two shits about digital music and wants to empower people with artwork they can actually hold and fully engage with. Copies can be purchased currently for $12.99 however, FREE copies are set aside in solidarity with unhoused neighbors and those on SSI or extremely low income. He is planning on upcoming record release party via Zoom, which will have a live DJ and many amazing hip hop artists throughout the bay! Email revoltrightnow@gmail.com for info on upcoming shows and album rSupport the show (https://coalition.networkforgood.com/)

Episode 3: What Are Shelters Like in the Time of COVID-19?August 13, 2020In this episode we speak with Meghan "Roadkill" Johnson and Ben Baczkowski, both Shelter Client Advocates who work at the Eviction Defense Collaborative to protect the rights of people living in San Francisco's shelter system. They offer a brief history and overview of the program before diving into the nitty-gritty details of how COVID-19 has changed everything. The weather report for this episode is brought to you by the Timothy O'Neil Band. Timothy O'Neil is a songwriter from Temecula, California, currently submerged in the Sonoma County Americana scene. Timothy O'Neil Band bares its influences of punk-rock and mixes it into songs, nodding to genres of bluegrass, folk, and singer-songwriter. You heard their original song "Build a Home". Learn more about the Shelter Client Advocacy Program: https://evictiondefense.org/services/shelter-client-advocacy/Support the show (https://coalition.networkforgood.com/)

Episode 2: What is an Encampment Sweep?Feb 14, 2020What happens when enough 311 complaints come in and the city decides to clear out a community of people? What happens to their belongings? And importantly, with over a thousand people on the shelter waitlist, where are people supposed to go? Today we answer the question, what is an encampment sweep? To get a better sense of what an encampment sweep is, we sat down with Couper Orona, who has experienced sweeps firsthand during her ten years of homelessness and who is a team member of the project Stolen Belonging, led by artist Leslie Dreyer. The project explores the impacts of encampment sweeps on homeless people by documenting the personal items confiscated by police and DPW. We also spoke with Human Rights Organizer Kelley Cutler, whose work at the Coalition on Homelessness has involved speaking with hundreds of people impacted by sweeps and advocating for policy changes through organizing and action.The weather report for this episode is brought to you by Banda Sin Nombre, a five-piece street band from San Francisco's Mission District dedicated to performing folk music from around the world. Mixing rich vocal harmonies with acoustic instruments including guitar, fiddle, cajon, charango, and bass, the band's inspirations range from Peruvian chicha to Catalan rumba and Appalachian old time to cumbia. You heard their original song Yo No Quiero Trabajar. On this episode: Stolen Belonging Project: https://www.stolenbelonging.org/Coalition on Homelessness: http://www.cohsf.org/Solutions Not Sweeps: https://solutionsnotsweeps.org/Banda Sin Nombre: http://www.bandasinnombre.com/Support the show (https://coalition.networkforgood.com/)

Episode 1: What is Street Sheet?Dec 09, 2019We start off with the headlines impacting homeless people, from Trump's atrocious new pick for the federal Interagency Council on Homelessness to the "Love Our City Eco-Blitz" announced by Mayor Breed's office, to the impending eviction of mentally ill people living at VanNess Manor. Then listen to a conversations between Street Sheet editors Quiver Watts and TJ Johnston about the history and mission of the Street Sheet newspaper as it celebrates its 30th year in print. Acknowledgements:Ramsey E. Dunlap brought us the Word on the Street headlinesAlejandro Delacosta created the logo for this podcast: IG @aledelacosta / website: aledelacosta.netTraffic and Weather with Tay and the Janglahdahs, a Bay Area band. We played their song "All We Can Do" off their album "Bloomin'". See them live at Brick and Mortar on December 17th. Website: http://www.janglahdahs.com/Support the show (https://coalition.networkforgood.com/)