Homelessness

City of Berkeley Programs

• Coordinated Entry System at the Hub

• Emergency Service for Berkeley Homeless

• Mayor's Page on Homelessness

• Services for the Homeless

State of California Programs

• Fact Sheet: Homelessness in California (2015)

• Homeless Coordinating Fnancing Council

• Homeless Youth Project

• California's Homeless: A Growing Population (2014)

2019 Sep 12. Number of people living in cars, RVs and tents increases in Berkeley. Berkeleyside article, [https://www.berkeleyside.com/2019/09/12/number-of-people-living-in-cars-rvs-and-tents-increases-in-berkeley]

Where to Donate Food in Berkeley

• • Berkeley Food Pantry, MWF 12-4pm, 1600 Sacramento St, need milk, fresh produce, unopened/non-perishables.

  • UC Berkeley Food Pantry, MWTh 10am-4pm & TF 11:30am-4pm, #68 MLK Student Union (Basement), need eggs, milk, fresh produce, unopened/non-perishables.

  • Food Not Bombs, M-F @3pm, People's Park vegan meal, need volunteers for cooking-serving-cleaning.

  • Loaves and Fishes, Community meal every 1st Sat 4-7pm, 2700 Dwight Way, need volunteers for cooking-serving-cleaning.

  • Berkeley Food and Housing Project, MTThF Community meal Lutheran Church of the Cross, 1901 Fairview St, need unopened/non-perishables; full schedule online.

  • Dorothy Day House, M-Sat 6/7am Community breakfast at 2 locations, 1931 Center St., need cooked meals, unopened/non-perishables.

  • Telegraph Community Ministry Center, W-Sun 6:30am Community breakfast, 5316 Telegraph Ave, need unopened/non-perishables.

  • Berkeley Neighborhood Food Project, Grocery bag food pickups vary by neighborhood, http://berkeleyfoodproject.org.

  • Alameda County Food Bank, need wholesale items, non-perishables.

  • First They Came for the Homeless, location varies...Ashby BART area, need unopened/non-perishables.

Opinion note from Alan Gould:

One of many parts of a solution for the increase of homelessness in the United States could be a huge expansion in funding of Section 8 of the Housing Act of 1937. That Act and subsequent amendments authorized payment of rental housing assistance to private landlords on behalf of approximately 4.8 million low-income households. In particular, the Housing Choice Voucher program has paid a large portion of the rents and utilities of about 2.1 million households. In the 1970s, studies showed that a serious problem for low-income people was the high percentage of income spent on housing. So Congress passed the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, that amended the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 to allow the Section 8 Program to have tenants pay about 30 percent of their income for rent, while the rest of the rent is paid with federal money. Presumably part of a low-income person's income can be Social Security distributions. The Section 8 program initially had three subprograms: New Construction, Substantial Rehabilitation, and Existing Housing Certificate programs. The Moderate Rehabilitation Program was added in 1978, the Voucher Program in 1983, and the Project-based Certificate program in 1991. It would be logical and honorable to increase taxes on the wealthiest segments of society to pay any increase in Section 8 funding. In 2017-8, HUD budget was slashed, directly compounding the problem and not providing a solution for the poor who are being ravaged by escalating housing costs.