Laura Zink

Sep 5, 2024 | thestreetspirit.org | Laura Zink |Bradley M. Penner

OnAugust 7, 2024, Caltrans sent CHP officers to 3441 Louise Street in Oakland to remove the family living on an empty lot there. The state removed their RVs, their sheds and all their belongings from the property. According to their attorney Andrea Henson, Director of Operations for the homeless advocacy and legal aid group Where Do We Go, the family only received two days’ notice of the eviction. It was, literally, an eviction.

Aug 6, 2024 | thestreetspirit.org | Laura Zink

The photograph on the August 2025 cover was taken on June 5, 2024, during an encampment closure near Children’s Fairyland in Oakland. The resident wasn’t home when city workers arrived, but she had zipped the tent closed and secured it with a padlock, like the front door of any home. The city’s team lead declared the tent abandoned. If a resident isn’t home during a sweep, the city can take everything they own.

Aug 5, 2024 | thestreetspirit.org | Laura Zink

OnJune 28, 2024, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution allows local governments to fine, arrest, and jail people for living outside, even when there is no shelter available. In short, the ruling says that the simple act of sleeping outside can be a crime if local governments choose to make it one, and that there is no requirement for municipalities to offer shelter before criminalizing the act of sleeping outside.

Aug 5, 2024 | thestreetspirit.org | Yesica Prado |Laura Zink

On July 9, Berkeley City Councilmember Cecilia Lunaparra introduced an emergency agenda item — a resolution affirming the city’s commitment to not escalate harm against unhoused people following the controversial Supreme Court decision that made it legal for cities across the country to cite and arrest people for public camping. “This resolution is written very explicitly to be an assertion of our values. It does not change any policy,” said Lunaparra.

Aug 5, 2024 | thestreetspirit.org | Tiny Gray-Garcia |Laura Zink

“Pleeeeeasedon’t take my mind… please don’t take my mind!” my aunty Rochelle screamed at the cop, crying while they motioned to the orange-vested men hurling her collection of dolls, her torn sleeping bag, and her last tarp into their trash truck. One of the cops said: “We will arrest you, Ma’am, if you don’t leave now.” All the cops there were robotic, barely registering my Aunty’s terror, much less her humanity. This happened years ago in San Francisco.