In 2005, while sitting in North Star Coffee on State Street and reading Under the Overpass by Mike Yankoski, in walked the author himself. As I am apt to make the most of any synchronistic moment, I invited him to join me.
It just so happened that I was on a listening journey into the heart of downtown Santa Barbara, to discover the most urgent cries of the neighborhood. Under the Overpass was Mike’s journey from having no understanding of the issue of homelessness and, by becoming homeless himself for a time, to becoming an advocate for friends on the streets. I remember him saying to me, “If you want to understand the city, you should understand homelessness.”
I joined him, and a few months later some friends and I were at Pershing Park every Wednesday with spaghetti, salad, and bread. I was given the street name “Spaghetti Man,” and the trajectory of my life changed.
My work at the park was primarily with chronically homeless individuals who were deemed “service resistant” at the time. It is our care for this specific population that I have seen radically change from 2005 to 2025, because we combined all our efforts to create better strategies and systems from streets to housing…