July issue of Street Spirit now on-line

Available now on a street corner near you, and also on this website as a downloadable PDF:

Lydia Gans reports on a protest at Berkeley City Hall, led by homeless youth, that helped convince City Council to put plans for an anti-sitting ordinance "in limbo for now."  Editor Terry Messman reports on California Legislature's devastating cuts to Medi-Cal, SSI, CalWORKs, and other programs serving poor families, the elderly, and disabled. Draconian cutbacks sparked an impassioned protest at Oakland welfare office by service providers and poor people. In an amazing switch, top officials of the Alameda County Social Services Agency joined the protests! 

Maureen Hartmann contributes a moving account of how a formerly homeless Vietnam veteran started a successful agency, Operation Dignity, to provide shelter, housing, and services to other homeless vets.  Labor journalist David Bacon exposes disturbing contradictions in US poverty --  the very workers who produce food for millions go hungry themselves and must rely on local food banks to feed their families. 

Oakland tenant activist Lynda Carson's investigation exposes double-crossing by a leading nonprofit agency for senior citizens, who support cuts in SSI that would leave many below the federal poverty lines. And a new feature in Street Spirit, "Glimpses of the Spirit," tells the story of a homeless disabled woman in the East Bay who has been a lifesaver to other homeless people by giving them food, clothing, and blankets. and helping them find housing. "Glimpses" also reports on amazing research showing poor people generally are more altruistic and compassionate than the affluent, in helping persons living in poverty.