Editor’s Note: The Scanner will periodically publish guest essays from community members on issues of interest or concern. Today’s piece was written by Berkeley Mayor Adena Ishii. It has been republished with permission.
We are experiencing a new level of threat to the health and wellbeing of Berkeley, particularly for our most vulnerable unhoused residents.
Many of the programs Berkeley has leveraged to help transition people off the street are funded by the very federal departments that the Trump Administration and Congress are gutting — housing, health, mental health, substance use, disease prevention and more…