Activist and former Berkeley mayoral candidate Mike Lee died at age 64 of complications related to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in mid August. Housing activists and many people experiencing homelessness across Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco reported sadness at his loss and admiration for him in the wake of the news.

More than a dozen unhoused Oakland residents and housing justice advocates gathered on the afternoon of February 15 just west of Wood and 24th Streets to memorialize unhoused local residents who’ve passed away.

While establishing a fire lane and cleaning a portion of a Home Depot parking lot where around 50 unhoused residents live, on Oct. 22 and 23 Oakland’s Department of Public Works (DPW) destroyed over a dozen self-made wooden homes and left those displaced with no alternative housing options.