Stories and
Poems from the
October 2006
Street Spirit Publication
What is Street Spirit? -Click Here|To read
all articles and poems from this issue of
Street Spirit, please visit Street Spirit's Website at
http://www.thestreetspirit.org/.
Articles, stories,
poems, statements, and such sharing first-person accounts and opinions do
not necessarily reflect BOSS's organizational views. We offer this site as
a forum to share all views, particularly those not generally heard in
mainstream outlets.
Federal Housing Cuts Left
Millions Without Homes -
Without Housing, a report by the Western Regional Advocacy Project,
shows how decades of federal housing cutbacks caused a huge rise in
homelessness.
Oakland Judge Refuses to Let
OHA Evict Poor Families -
On Thursday, September 21, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Winifred
Y. Smith rebuffed the ongoing attempts by the Oakland Housing Authority
(OHA) to evict about 20 low-income families from their public housing
units at Lockwood Gardens in Oakland.
The Crime of Pushing a Shopping Cart
-
Under a new ordinance passed in Fresno on September 19, homeless people
can be arrested, fined $1,000, and spend up to a year in jail for the
crime of being in possession of a shopping cart. The City of Fresno is
adopting an ordinance that would criminalize homeless people who use
shopping carts as a means of transporting their possessions.
San Francisco Punishes People
for the Crime of Being Poor -
San Francisco has spent more than $5.7 million since January 2004
issuing citations to thousands of homeless people. These are
the recipients of the 31,230 citations issued by the San Francisco
police. These homeless people were cited, arrested, dragged through the
courts and jailed for engaging in actions that you and I regard without
a second thought as a routine part of our daily life.
San Francisco Clergy Speak Out
Against Cruel Police Repression -
As the colder weather of autumn approaches, a coalition of San
Francisco's religious leaders joined together at City Hall recently to
reveal the results of months of study on the city's homeless policy. The
results, they said, depicted the Newsom administration as simultaneously
working to house as many homeless people as possible, while
criminalizing those it lacks the resources to serve.
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