An unsheltered erson is asleep directly on the parking lot pavement of the boarded up Lucky Penny diner next door to Trader Joe's, Masonic, San Francisco. A wheelchair with some belongings, at the person's feet. It's 55°F this morning, Easter eve. Hopefully the bright is offering some warmth. 🙏

It's the wheelchair-ed,
that especially get to me.

#EasterEve
#NurseSky #CNAlife
#DespairAndTheCity 🙏

GRACE JONES /
CORPORATE CANNIBAL
(OCCUPY WALL STREET MIX)
[WALL OF SOUND] 2008
youtu.be/7oykUqCNyRM

Average studio rent in SF hovers around the low-to-mid $2,000s, though prices vary significantly by neighborhood, with areas like Nob Hill and SOMA sometimes seeing studios closer to $3,200.

#DespairAndTheCity 💰

LAMB / GORECKI
[FONTANA] 1996
youtu.be/U_68-E1PdUE?...

throw
your arms
around the
🌍🌎🌏

#DespairAndTheCity 🫂

DELERIUM FEAT.
SARAH MCLACHLAN
SILENCE (MICHAEL WOOD REMIX)
[NETTWERK] 1999
youtu.be/DjqEQrgpuWM?...

Average studio rent in SF hovers around the low-to-mid $2,000s, though prices vary significantly by neighborhood, with areas like Nob Hill and SOMA sometimes seeing studios closer to $3,200.

#DespairAndTheCity 🙏

GWEN GUTHRIE /
AIN'T NOTHIN' GOIN' ON
BUT THE RENT (1986)
youtu.be/2cbWVXmLlfg?...

throw your arms
around the 🌍🌎🌏

#DespairAndTheCity 🫂

Ready for tomorrow's rain, he is, but not the bus arriving at any moment. I tried, really I did. 🙏

soon
it's
gonna
rain
i can
feel it

#DespairAndTheCity 🌧️

A man lying on his back on the sidewalk over an air-conditioning vent from the Clift Hotel, near my apartment. It blasts warm air 24/7. There are frequently unsheltered people laying on top of it, especially during colder times like today with a high of 55F.

My alley tonight with ~5 unsheltered lying on the sidewalk in front of the Vet's Alley murals. Temperature at the time, ~46F.

"... but I don't have a celebratory
spirit. It is impossible for me, with
the world as it is, to celebrate
anything." JAVIER BARDEM

#DespairAndTheCity 🥶

BAND AID / DO THEY
KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS?
[COLUMBIA] 1984
youtu.be/RH-xd5bPKTA?...

"It was the best of times,
it was the worst of times,"

Meaning:
It reflects the deep contrasts of the time—a period of both great progress and hope for some, alongside immense poverty and despair for others.

#DespairAndTheCity 🥶

16 BIT LOLITAS /
NOBODY SEEMS TO CARE
youtu.be/zmJ9_y64KUc?...

It's at times
like this though,
when it seems
not nearly enough.

#DespairAndTheCity 🦃

CERRONE FEAT.
JANE GOODALL /
THE IMPACT
youtu.be/X6IAg4RHjZ8?...

compare 🦃 contrast
#DespairAndTheCity

City College of San Francisco Mission @ 4th entrance, with two unsheltered just outside the main entrance, one strung out in a wheelchair, the other appearing to do the "heroin hunch"

alma 🥺 mater
#DespairAndTheCity

A cardboard box providing shelter to someone this early morning on the sidewalk along Jones Street. Handwritten in cursive on one side is: Estados Unidos de América The empty box was apparently a shipping container for a new toilet: Glacier Bay Pro Series Single Flush

Estados Unidos de América
#DespairAndTheCity 🇺🇲

One of my favorite neighborhood pizza places pre- pandemic, Bells Lucca. It now stands empty and its main entrance is frequently taken up by those seeking a moment of respite, of reasonable shelter.

il etait une fois 🥴
#DespairAndTheCity

Yet another someone unsheltered this evening on my alley.

I AM ☘️
BECAUSE ☘️
WE ARE ☘️

#DespairAndTheCity

JOAN OSBORNE / ONE OF US
[MERCURY RECORDS] 1995
youtu.be/aDdOnl0bHO4?...

#DespairAndTheCity 🇺🇲

a 🇺🇸
real 🇺🇸
American 🇺🇸
crisis 🇺🇸
not 🇺🇸
a fake 🇺🇸
manufactured 🇺🇸
one 🇺🇸
#DespairAndTheCity 🇺🇸

A ghostly figure sleeping under a blanket in the alcove of a closed restaurant, along Divisadero directly in front of UCSF Mt. Zion main entrance

A shoeless guy seemingly passed out on the sidewalk bordering UCSF Mt. Zion. He's on top of a vent, warm air was blowing up, likely exhaust from UCSF. I've seen this before, people resting on top of vents, seeking warmth. It's mid 50s° in San Francisco this morning. The scene was alarming. I did go check on him, gave him a nudge, worried maybe a fentanyl situation. I'm trained and carry Narcan. He was alert. I offered him a glazed donut in my bag from work. He was accepting and thankful. His head and upper body were covered under his jacket, just a hand emerged and took the donut.

Off the bus this morning, on my alley, Vet's Alley, someone under a blanket with Amos's "We the People" mural behind. SF supes give Tenderloin’s ‘Veterans Alley’ its due https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/the-city/san-francisco-gives-tenderloin-veterans-alley-its-due/article_b81ed074-cac9-11ee-9e17-472e6f6497b1.html

a nation
that continues
year after year
to spend more money
on military defense
than on programs
of social uplift
is approaching
spiritual doom
MLK

#DespairAndTheCity 🇺🇲

JELLYBEAN & MADONNA
FT. CATHERINE BUCHANAN /SIDEWALK TALK
[EMI RECORDS] 1984
youtu.be/JKOA7kugWV0?...

WWPFD -
What Would
Pope Francis Do?

#DespairAndTheCity 🙏

WANGARI MAATHAI /
I WILL BE A HUMMINGBIRD
(DIRT! THE MOVIE) 2009
youtu.be/IGMW6YWjMxw

The same gentleman, he's found refuge again tonight, this time in a nearby soft story building's alcove.

Good night fellow human.
#DespairAndTheCity 🙏

Unsheltered fellow humans often find overnight refuge in the emergency exit alcove of my facility.

Tonight is one of those nights.

I can hear snoring from my side of the doors.

#NurseSky 😭 #CNAlife 😭
#DespairAndTheCity 😭

RÖYKSOPP /
RUNNING TO THE SEA
[DOG TRIUMPH] 2013
youtu.be/h8XCUbGAILo

"Mother Earth
is a disabled VeT
HELP HER HEAL"
#DespairAndTheCity 🕊️

Unsheltered person resting on the ceramic tiled vestibule/entryway of two retail shops, covered with only a thin yellow emergency blanket. A small cardboard box is cut open, shaped and positioned to offer some shielding around the head. Likely belongings, are just behind in a white plastic garbage bag with red ties. It looks like there may be a layer of cardboard between the person and the cold ceramic tile. 🙏 Current temperature: 48°F

"nest"

#DespairAndTheCity 😭

MOBY /
NATURAL BLUES
(KATCHA REMIX)
[MUTE] 2000
youtu.be/aaWkKzJGNBY?...

Young woman hunched over with suitcase and industrial blanket slowly making her way along Geary at Leavenworth San Francisco March 6, 2025

send me an angel 🙏
#DespairAndTheCity

I smelled smoke on my way to work tonight. On the corner, a young homeless guy crouched using his torch to barbecue a sandwich I'm sure'd been fished out of the garbage. I clocked in, used the restroom, then went to the window. There he still was, eating it, alone in the cold.
#DespairAndTheCity 🙏

Man dressed head to toe in gold lamé: shoes, pants, puffy jacket, strap on wings, yellow platinum dyed hair, and wing hat, holds an empty rectangular frame with "2025" glued on its topside. He stands on the street corner (Taylor & Geary) staring at his phone, holding a champagne bottle style helium balloon which is blowing around in the wind. On the champagne bottle's logo space is written a cursive "Happy New Year" The bright lights of incoming Geary Street traffic illuminate the scene. San Francisco, December 31, 2024

Also on the corner, Taylor & Geary streets, directly in front of restaurant Tratto/Hotel Marker, a hunched over elderly woman with medium full plastic shopping bags, is digging in the trash receptacle for recyclables. San Francisco, December 31, 2024

tale of two cities 🌉
#DespairAndTheCity

Photo: Four men huddled, hunched over, actively using substances. 38 Geary at Leavenworth bus stop San Francisco, December 20, 2024 ‘Heroin Hunch’: What Is It and Why Does It Happen? https://www.southjerseyrecovery.com/heroin/hunch-posture/

throw your arms around the
world #DespairAndTheCity 🫂

two people at a bus shelter have their heads/upper bodies mostly covered by a shared bright yellow emergency worker style jacket which has grey reflector stripes.

soon it's gonna rain
i can feel it ☔
#DespairAndTheCity

Photo: a man in a baseball cap carrying a soiled grey blanket over his shoulders, waits for the bus. the blanket is long and trails behind him like the train of a cape. Mission at 5th Street San Francisco, December 10, 2024.

blanket statement 😔
#DespairAndTheCity

Photo: unsheltered fellow human resting on the sidewalk in front of the Fifth Church of Christ Scientist, enshrouded in a white comforter. San Francisco, December 2, 2024

take me to church
MATTHEW 25:35
#DespairAndTheCity 🙏

Photo: unsheltered fellow human resting on the sidewalk, completely covered by a large rectangular cardboard box, but for the feet visible at the bottom, wearing worn out black and white sneakers. Huntington Square Park, San Francisco, December 3, 2024

what if God
was one of us?

#DespairAndTheCity 🙏

JOAN OSBORNE /
ONE OF US
[MERCURY] 1995
youtu.be/aDdOnl0bHO4?...