We the Unhoused

This week, Theo speaks with Executive Director of the Institute of the Development for Human Arts Jessie Roth about healing and transforming society through accessible treatment for mental health that takes full account of the adverse affects of external conditions. In Unhoused News, Theo takes a closer look at the most recent policies at the national and state level targeting the unhoused and the undocumented, and how they seek to...

As ICE raids continue to escalate and target farm workers, many of whom as unhoused, revolutionary mutual aid efforts like Alianza Nacional De Campesinas are meeting the moment. Theo and the WTU crew head to the triple digits of Thermal, California, where farmers can access everything from fresh food to diapers and school supplies. Food justice organizers Melissa Acedera and Roxanna Chavez speak to Theo about how the needs of their...

Theo speaks with activist Sequoyah Thiessen about their experience being body brokered at LA area rehab facilities, and how these same places are exploiting the community's most vulnerable -- including the unhoused. We also remember past guest Cindy McAllister, who passed away this month. Theo speaks with friends about her life, and how her memory will continue.

Follow Sequoyah's work here: 

https://www.instagram.com/sequo...

This week, Theo explores the reality of mental health complications while unhoused -- with parent to an unhoused Angeleno, Anita, and speaking about lived experience with attorney Clare Cortwright. Also, we remember Angeleno and Reclaimer activist Benito Flores.

More about Reclaimers and contribute to Benito's memorial fund here: 

https://reclaimingourhomes.org/support/

See omnystudio.com/listener for pr...

This week, Theo speaks with returning guest, ACLU SoCal's Kath Rogers and immigration lawyer Pasquale Lombardo about the ICE raids in Los Angeles, and how to move forward with hope and pragmatism for the undocumented and unhoused communities. Also -- Theo covers the press conference of hospitalized victim of an ICE attack, Milagra Solis Portillo, including an interview with Senator Sasha Renee Perez and speaks on the top five ways ...

As the heat picks up and Los Angeles continues to resist ICE, Theo speaks with Tanner Swanson of A New Leaf in Arizona to speak about the unique issues the state’s unhoused people face in increasingly lethal temperatures. While the year mark of the Grants Pass decision approaches and climate change’s consequences continues to spread, they speak on how the unhoused are being failed, and what needs to change.

Learn ab...

Theo is joined by author and journalist Claudia Rowe to discuss her latest book Wards of the State: The Long Shadow of American Foster Care and take a closer look at the ways that those in the foster system have faced discrimination and a complete lack of support for generations. The intersections and overlaps between systemics failure to those in (and out) of foster care are explored, and no stone is left unturned. ...

This week, Theo talks with Becks Heyhoe-Khalil about how houselessness is treated in America versus other places in the west -- and what needs to be done in the States to combat the numerous way the U.S. fails the unhoused on the city, state, and national levels.

Follow Dr. Heyhoe-Khalil's work here:

https://unitedtoendhomelessness.org/

 https://www.linkedin.com/in/becks-heyhoe/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy in...

WE THE UNHOUSED IS NOMINATED FOR A WEBBY!

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This week, Theo speaks with Amanda Nicholson and Max Flower about the pressing issue of harm reduction. We discuss how misinformation about harm reduction is weaponized against the unhoused and humane solutions for those struggling with addictions on the street are com...

This week, Theo welcomes returning guest and activist Curtis Howard and academic Kevin Smith to contrast the ways that the unhoused are presented by unhoused and housed media, respectively. Curtis was unhoused for three decades and was incarcerated multiple times, and shares not just his own history, but the history of why Black men are particularly vulnerable to being forced into this cycle. Then, Theo contrasts this talk with Kev...

This week, Theo looks to the future for the unhoused in America, and how to know your rights in an increasingly uncertain and hostile environment. He speaks with ACLU staff attorney Kath Rogers and Supervising Attorney for Tenants Rights at Inner City Law Kaimi Wenger about what you can do to protect yourself, and to remain educated, liberated, and motivated to move forward.

Learn more about Kath: https://www.aclusoca...

In our final installment on the LA fires (for now), Theo speaks to Alex, a survivor of the Altadena Eaton fire about his recent experience, and his previous experience being unhoused years ago. Then, we check in with Rachel Sanoff, volunteer coordinator of the SELAH unhoused coalition in LA about the efforts they've done to assist with those newly unhoused by fire while continuing to support unhoused residents on the east side of t...

In the second part of We the Unhoused's LA fire coverage, Theo speaks with JTown Action and Solidarity co-founder Mario Correa about the mutual aid response to the fires, both with the existing unhoused community and newly displaced people. Then, he checks in with longtime unhoused veteran activist in West LA Ryan Thompson, who speaks on how the unhoused vets living outside the VA were nearly permanently displaced during evacuation...

Theo takes a closer look at how the recent fires in Los Angeles affected the city's unhoused community, who the mainstream media and the city continued to ignore. He speaks with returning guest Roof Lesser about her experience being unhoused close to the fires, and with restaurateur and activist Philip Hirose, co-owner of Azay in Little Tokyo. 

Follow Roof Lesser here: https://www.instagram.com/rooflessr/

Follow Azay ...

Welcome to 2025 at We the Unhoused! Theo is starting the year on a high note, interviewing former Black Panthers, Lorenzo Ervin and JoNina Abron-Ervin. They share their experiences and insights on what a more just world can still look like. In Unhoused News, Theo takes a look at the persistent struggles faced by people transitioning from temporary to permanent housing, and the real dangers of hypothermia in Los Angeles among the un...

In our last episode of 2024, Theo reflects on how 2024 has affected the unhoused community, and how to look forward to 2025. Then, he speaks with two returning guests -- Peoples City Council cofounder Albert Corrado about his journey toward mutual aid and building a better world in the wake of his sister Mely's murder at the hands of the LAPD, and Azoy, who speaks to the struggle to remain housed with the prejudice that exists in e...