On a Sunday afternoon, children play in the Gilman District in West Berkeley. Their family is part of a community of vehicle residents called Friends on Wheels, whose members have parked and lived together for two years. The community is made up of families, students, gig workers, service workers and disabled and elderly people who live in all shapes and sizes of vehicles.

No Address, No Rest: Berkeley Forces Vehicle Dwellers to Keep Rolling

In a region where the cost of living has spiraled upward in the last decade, some who find themselves without housing opt for living in vehicles. Many view it as a temporary fix — an affordable shelter or intermediate stop they hope will put them on a path to stable, permanent housing. In Berkeley, a group of vehicle dwellers joined together and created their own support system.

Coronavirus Resource Guide for Vehicle Dwellers in San Francisco and Berkeley

Photojournalist Yesica Prado assembled this resource guide as part of her ongoing project examining the culture of vehicle living in San Francisco and Berkeley. CatchLight, Dysturb, The Everyday Projects and the San Francisco Public Press collaborated to produce this guide for printed posters, which are posted where vehicle dwellers would likely see them. The aim is to improve access to locally relevant public health information as part of the Artists Against an #Infodemic Initiative.

Guía de Recursos Sobre el Coronavirus Para Residentes de Vehículos en San Francisco y Berkeley

La fotoperiodista Yesica Prado reunió esta guía de recursos como parte de su proyecto que examina la cultura de vivir en vehículos en San Francisco y Berkeley. CatchLight, Dysturb, The Everyday Projects y San Francisco Public Press colaboraron para producir esta guía y carteles, que se publicaran donde los habitantes de vehículos puedan leerlos. El objetivo es mejorar el acceso a la información de salud pública localmente como parte de la Iniciativa de Artistas Contra una #Infodemia.

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Counting the City’s Homeless: A First-Hand Account From the Streets

Point-in-Time counts are “snapshots” of a city’s homeless population, relying on volunteers’ perceptions of homelessness. As such, the surveys are prone to error. They also fail to gather specifics about age and ethnicity, and don’t provide a full picture of the most vulnerable growing populations: infants and the elderly.

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State Law Cracks Down on Free Public Meals

Many city residents who are not housed or are food insecure depend on humanitarian aid from Food Not Bombs to survive. But state regulations taking effect in January jeopardize the group’s 35-year mission of sharing food outside the confines of government bureaucracy.