Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

California Today

Were You Homeless in California? What Helped?

Tuesday: We want to hear from people who have experienced homelessness. Also: Catch up on the DACA case before the Supreme Court.

Image
A tent on the street in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco earlier this year.Credit...Jim Wilson/The New York Times

Good morning.

(Here’s the sign-up, if you don’t already get California Today by email.)

Earlier this year, we asked you what you wanted to know about California’s gaping economic inequality, and many of you raised questions about homelessness.

Over the past few weeks, my colleague Marie Tae McDermott has tackled reader questions about whether most people experiencing homelessness are from California or have moved from out of state, and why the homelessness crisis seems to be so much more dire in California than in other states.

Today, we want to take a moment to look forward.

Many of our readers have said that homelessness in California can seem overwhelming to the point of paralysis. Still, many asked about what they can do to help.

“What are specific actions I can take as a resident of the Bay Area to help homeless populations access services or resources they need?” Scout Leonard, a Berkeley resident, asked.

“What can we do to help the homeless and many others to find housing and gain better living conditions?” wrote Theo Armour, of San Francisco.

Experts say there is no way around it: In order to meaningfully address homelessness, more housing must be built.

[Read more about why homeless populations around the state have been surging.]

But we also want to hear from people who have experienced homelessness themselves about how they think Californians can make a difference.

Have you or anyone you know experienced homelessness? What helped you through that time?

Were there agencies that connected you with housing? Did you get mental health care or substance abuse treatment that made it possible to find more stable work?

On a more intimate level, were there any gestures by family, friends or strangers that made your day better?

Above all, what do you wish more people knew about homelessness?

If you’d be willing to share your story and your advice, please answer a few questions using this form. Or if you know someone who might be able to do so, please pass this on.

Click here for the form.


We often link to sites that limit access for nonsubscribers. We appreciate your reading Times coverage, but we also encourage you to support local news if you can.

Image
A rally in Los Angeles supporting the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, for young undocumented immigrants after President Trump ordered it ended in 2017.Credit...David McNew/Getty Images
  • The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments over Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the Obama-era program that shields people who were brought to the U.S. as children from deportation. Here’s what to read to catch up on the case. [The New York Times]

  • The number of Mexicans waiting in Tijuana to make asylum claims is ballooning as more families flee cartel violence. The increase has prompted concerns that the situation could strain already fragile relations between the presidents of the two countries. [The San Diego Union-Tribune]

  • For decades, California’s fire departments have helped one another through a mutual aid system. That worked well — until windblown fires started to ignite with more frequency. Now, chiefs say, they’re hesitant to send help to other parts of the state in case they’re needed at home. [The Los Angeles Times]

  • Gov. Gavin Newsom has accused Pacific Gas & Electric of corporate greed and has pushed for it to be restructured. But over the past 20 years, he and his wife have accepted more than $700,000 from the company, its employees and its foundation. [The Washington Post]

And if you missed it, PG&E has spent $9 million on around 900 in-state campaign contributions over the past decade. [The New York Times]

  • In other news, Mr. Newsom told The Fresno Bee’s editorial board that he would oppose attempts by Southern California and Bay Area lawmakers to divert money intended for the long-planned bullet train to rail systems in their regions. [The Fresno Bee]

  • Transit riders in the Bay Area staged an “eat-in” protest at a San Francisco BART station after a viral video showed a black man being handcuffed and cited by the police for eating as he waited for a train. That incident, which took place on Nov. 4, is now under investigation. [The Mercury News]

And an update: BART’s general manager apologized to the man. [The New York Times]

  • The widow of one of the 34 people who died in a fire on a scuba diving boat has sued the boat’s owners. She claimed that the vessel didn’t have enough emergency exits and a required night watch. [The Associated Press]

  • Google announced plans to store and analyze millions of health records through a partnership with the nonprofit hospital system Ascension. At least a few of its employees have raised concerns that Google workers downloaded patient data. [The New York Times]

  • Brian Chesky, Airbnb’s chief executive, talked about how the company plans to verify listings in the wake of a shooting at a rental in Orinda. [The New York Times]

Image
Sqirl, Jessica Koslow’s restaurant in Los Angeles, is small but has come to represent a lot about the city’s dining.Credit...Oriana Koren for The New York Times
  • In Santa Monica, the chefs Gabriela Cámara and Jessica Koslow — whose restaurants have helped define the cuisines of Mexico City and Los Angeles, respectively — are combining forces on a new endeavor: Onda. [Eater]

  • Neil Young, a longtime California resident, was on track to become a U.S. citizen. The Canadian artist hasn’t been shy about wanting to vote in the 2020 presidential election. But he said his naturalization process hasn’t gone as planned because of his marijuana use. [The New York Times]


Image
Cuco performing on the opening day of the festival Primavera Sound music festival in Barcelona in May.Credit...Alejandro Garcia/EPA, via Shutterstock

Over the weekend, I trekked to Pomona for the second day of this year’s Tropicália Music and Taco Festival. (Not the festival where Drake got booed — that was Camp Flog Gnaw at Dodger Stadium.)

I’ll admit I’m not exactly a fiend for festivals; we bought tickets mostly because we couldn’t pass up a chance to see Sunday’s top-billed acts — Cuco, Chicano Batman and Kali Uchis — in one place.

But as The Daily Bulletin reported, the event, in its third year, has grown into something more than another big Southern California music festival: It’s a celebration of the diversity, depth and economic power of Latino culture in L.A.

And as such, I figured it would be a great place to keep an ear out for songs to add to our California Soundtrack playlist.

Since several of the artists who played (including Cuco and Chicano Batman) are already represented, we’re adding to the list a bilingual track called “Cariño,” by The Marías, once described in The Los Angeles Times as “the perfect indie band for L.A. kids,” and who performed for a chilled-out, swaying crowd on Sunday afternoon.

If you went to Tropicália, though, you probably came away with playlist picks of your own. Send them, along with your name, age and where you live, to CAtoday@nytimes.com.

Click here to listen to the California Soundtrack on Spotify.


California Today goes live at 6:30 a.m. Pacific time weekdays. Tell us what you want to see: CAtoday@nytimes.com. Were you forwarded this email? Sign up for California Today here.

Jill Cowan grew up in Orange County, graduated from U.C. Berkeley and has reported all over the state, including the Bay Area, Bakersfield and Los Angeles — but she always wants to see more. Follow along here or on Twitter, @jillcowan.

California Today is edited by Julie Bloom, who grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from U.C. Berkeley.

Jill Cowan is the California Today correspondent, keeping tabs on the most important things happening in her home state every day. More about Jill Cowan

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT