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In this op-ed, Lourdes Johanna Avelar Portillo, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow with the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, underscores the importance of providing access to water and sanitation services to people who are experiencing homelessness. She explains how the lack of water and other hygiene services can create added barriers among those experiencing homelessness, increasing stigmatization, as well as an increase risk in public health. Dr. Protillo writes, "the need for public access to water, sanitation and hygiene services is not just for people experiencing homelessness — it’s important to everyone." This op-ed was published as part of the Public Voices Fellowship in partnership with The OpEd Project and funding from the California Health Care Foundation.

In this op-ed, Maria Raven, MD, MPH, associate director at the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, explains how homelessness is not just a housing issue, but a health care issue. She outlined the pertinent health needs of people experiencing homelessness and the barriers of treating illness against a background of homelessness. Dr. Raven writes, "The health care system in general, and emergency departments specifically, cannot solve this problem — we can only respond to its consequences." This op-ed was published as part of the Public Voices Fellowship in partnership with The OpEd Project and funding from the California Health Care Foundation.

As a board member of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative (BHHI) Lived Expertise Advisory Board that played a major role in the design and implementation of the California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness, my participation on the project was deeply influenced by my personal experience of homelessness. Having faced the challenges and uncertainties associated with housing instability firsthand, I have dedicated myself to making a positive impact and working towards finding lasting solutions for those facing similar struggles.

By providing safe indoor spaces and safe supplies, overdose prevention centers treat overdoses and limit infections, while offering access to primary care services and evidence-based treatment for drug addiction. Leslie Suen, MD, MAS, explains why evidence-based harm reduction strategies like OPCs keep people safe while making treatment readily available to anyone who wants it.

To address intergenerational homelessness and housing insecurity, protecting low-income families and mitigating the risk of their children experiencing homelessness is paramount.

Recently, a spate of assaults and murders have highlighted how people without housing are vulnerable to violence. Margot Kushel, MD, Director of BHHI, sheds light on the longstanding crisis of violence against people who are homeless.

Health impacts of encampment sweeps, racial inequities in harm reduction, and more homelessness and housing news from the past week that you may have missed.

The asset economy, social housing, and more homelessness and housing news from the past week that you may have missed.

Vehicular homelessness in Oakland, pandemic-era mortality rates in San Francisco, and more homelessness and housing news from the past week that you may have missed.

A new BHHI report sheds light an oft-misunderstood subpopulation of unhoused people.

CARE Courts, tiny homes in San Francisco, and more homelessness and housing news from the past week that you may have missed.