As the air quality climbed into the “very unhealthy” range on Friday, both Berkeley and Oakland opened clean air respite centers for unsheltered people and others who need a break from the toxic wildfire smoke. Here's what we know about where they are and how to utilize them.

Don’t call the cops on homeless people. This is a common refrain amongst advocates, and one that has grown louder over the past few months. But when you are witnessing someone in the midst of a mental health crisis, this is easier said than done. The Anti Police Terror Project has stepped up to change that.

Ken Jones stands on the corner of Addison and Shattuck, waiting for people to exit a concert at the Freight and Salvage, or a play at the Berkeley Rep. In the cool evening light, he catches the eye of patrons spilling out of the theaters, flashing a broad smile at each person who looks up as he broadcasts his patter over the crowd.

Some 30 people gathered outside Oakland’s Palms Motel on Friday to demand that the City of Oakland take immediate action to move more unsheltered people into hotel rooms.

On Thursday evening, protestors staged a die-in outside San Francisco Mayor London Breed's Lower Haight home. Organizers say the action was in protest of Breed's slow action to move unsheltered people into hotels.

Youth Spirit Artworks (YSA) is celebrating a long awaited accomplishment: After scouring the East Bay for a site for their Youth Tiny House Village, YSA has secured a site in East Oakland.

Street Spirit sat down with Dominique Walker to talk about her history as an organizer, and the future of the Moms 4 Housing movement.

Street Spirit vendor Arthur Roper died on Friday, January 24, of complications from a stroke. He was 83 years old.

In 1995, Sally Hindman wanted to start a home- less advocacy newspaper in the East Bay. Street Sheet already existed in San Francisco, and she saw an opportunity in Berkeley and Oakland. She quickly enlisted Terry Messman to be the founding editor and together, they got to work.

On a sunny Saturday in November, some 250 people gathered in Moss- wood Park to demand an end to un- just housing practices and housing for their homeless neighbors

Living outside is never easy, but the winter rain and cold create additional burdens for unhoused people. And while the

Walking down Franklin Street in Downtown Oakland you’ll see a larger than life mural of a man in a baseball cap. With gentle eyes and a wide smile, he looks east over the city, watching over the people passing by. Small businesses line Franklin Street to the left and right. Below the mural is a parking lot, and shiny office buildings tower above. In between lies the portrait of Derrick Hayes, a 59-year-old homeless resident of Oakland who has been selling Street Spirit for almost 20 years.

A movement is growing in Berkeley, where unhoused people are demanding answers.

In July, Rick Paulas generously donated hundreds of copies of his book, Eastern Span, for Street Spirit vendors to sell

I never thought my work with Street Spirit would bring me to Hannover, Germany. But this summer, it did.

Sanctioning self-governed encampments. Providing storage options for unsheltered residents. Prohibiting evictions during extreme weather. These are just some of the changes that Oakland City Councilmember Nikki Fortunato Bas is suggesting to the City of Oakland’s Encampment Management Policy.

William Barclay Caldeira, a Berkeley resident known to many for his deep commitment to justice and equality, died on Sunday, May 19. He was 51 years old. Barclay Caldeira—who went by “300”—was homeless. On the day of his passing, a number of his friends and neighbors saw him sitting at a bus stop on Adeline Street near Ward Street, looking unwell.

Street Spirit pulled this timeline from “People’s Park: Still Blooming”; Edited by Terri Compost. It has been lightly

“The first time I played here, there was no park here yet,” Stevie Barsotti, the frontman of a band called Dapper Shindig, said to a crowd who had gathered in People’s Park on April 13. “The third time was when we tore down the fence, and that was really fun!”

Harold Adler has photographed all kinds of characters. Throughout the 1960’s and 70’s, he documented Telegraph Avenue hippies and gangs

Kelley was shot at People’s Park in April—the first ever murder to occur in the Park. A memorial for Kelley

Anti-homeless parking ban in Berkeley sparks outrage An RV in Berkeley with a bumper sticker that reads “home is where

The City of Oakland has started enforcing a zero-tolerance camping ban around Lake Merritt.

As the sun set on Friday, February 22, the residents of South Berkeley’s Here/There encampment had much to celebrate. They were commemorating the two-year anniversary of their encampment. On July 6, 2017, camp was founded by First They Came For The Homeless, a homeless-led political organizing group.

Driving north down Adeline Street, you might notice an eight-foot-tall steel sculpture that reads “Here There” marking the border between

On January 30, I woke up before dawn to drive around East Oakland and count all the homeless people I could find. I was one of the 600 volunteers who participated in the 2019 Point-in-Time (PIT) homeless count for Alameda County, California. The PIT count is a nationwide effort to tally the number of unsheltered Americans living on the street on a single night in January.

It was December 6, and Oakland Police officers had stormed Housing and Dignity Village—a homeless encampment for women of color and their children in East Oakland—to evict the residents who lived there.

Last year, United Nations Special Rapporteur Lelani Farha made national headlines after telling the world that homelessness in the Bay Area was “cruel and inhumane.”

Many are fighting for dignity and fair housing as the city vows to clear all Lake Merritt encampments.

The top two candidates talk about housing, homelessness, and what they would like to change in the next four years.

The Veteran’s Memorial Building at 1931 Center Street (Alastair Boone) After closing the doors at its Ninth Street location on

In 2008, Scooter was working as a veterinary technician in Connecticut when a friend offered to fly him out to

The closure of the largest homeless shelter in Berkeley leaves many with nowhere to go

One October day in 1835, abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison was hard at work publishing his anti-slavery newspaper, The Liberator, when