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Friday, March 20, 2020

San Francisco Tows Cars Over Unpaid Tickets, Even When People Are Living in Them
by Sam Lew
“I didn’t know where to park — I’d park by the water, but I was scared. I tried to park where there were multiple cars so I could be safer.”

Lawmakers Must Include Homeless Individuals and Families in Coronavirus Responses
by Jaboa Lake
From our partner, the Center for American Progress: People experiencing homelessness are at higher risk for COVID-19.

Federal Immigration Officials Can Help Protect Public Health During the Coronavirus Pandemic
By Tom Jawetz and Ed Chung
From our partner, the Center for American Progress: Some local law enforcement agencies responded to COVID-19 by diverting people away from prisons and jails and releasing vulnerable incarcerated individuals.

The Coronavirus Pandemic and the Racial Wealth Gap
By Danyelle Solomon and Darrick Hamilton
From our partner, the Center for American Progress: The unjust racial wealth gap leaves Black and Latinx communities especially vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus.

What We’re Reading

Inequality Gone Viral. Socioeconomic inequality makes people more vulnerable to coronavirus and the virus is widening the gap between have and have not. Low-wage workers are seeing the worst of COVID-19 and students struggle to get a basic education hampered by the digital divide. Speaking of have and have not, how come only rich people are getting tested?

In Their Own Words. This account from a grocery worker on the front lines highlights why these workers are so essential. A bike messenger talks about what it's like to roll through empty streets with food deliveries. A nursing home worker is worried for lonely residents. A cab driver is barely meeting expenses as he cruises an empty city.

Doing The Work. Janitorial staff are reporting for duty across the country even with low pay and no personal protective equipment. If they take the bus, someone's got to drive them. If they stop at one of a dwindling number of restaurants for a sandwich, someone has to serve them. When they get sick, hospital workers, some sporting homemade masks, will be there to help them.

Beyond the Golden Gate

Eerie images of cities disrupted are pouring in from around the world. In San Francisco, one of the first U.S. cities to be put under a shelter in place order, the street scenes are surreal. This image of Doctor Stuart Malcolm providing outreach to an unhoused person is particularly striking; as most residents of the city took refuge in their homes, others had nowhere to go.

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