California Divide

As Bay Area food banks scramble to meet increased demand for their services, the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank has opened seven new pop-up pantries to fill a gap left by dozens of sites that have shut down due to coronavirus and volunteer shortages. The food bank has seen about 100 of its regular 275 food […]

More than 2 million undocumented workers, who do not quality for many state and federal benefits, are among the hardest hit Californians as the economy is battered by the coronavirus pandemic. Congress is working to provide an emergency relief fund that could benefit U.S. citizens and permanent legal residents. However, undocumented workers are not included. Also, […]

Join us virtually on March 26 at 1 p.m. for the next installment of CalMatters’ “Getting Through Coronavirus, Explained” web series. CalMatters assistant editor Judy Lin and California Divide reporter Nigel Duara will moderate a discussion with Loree Levy, Deputy Director of Public Affairs for the California Employment Development Department, and Lilia Garcia-Brower, California Labor […]

As coronavirus cases rise throughout California, health officials announced Friday that Covered California, the state’s health insurance marketplace, would extend its special enrollment period until the end of June in an effort to provide health insurance to more people. “The human and economic impacts of the coronavirus will be far-reaching, long-lasting and impacting many Californians’ […]

As Fresno County scrambles to get its homeless population indoors during the coronavirus crisis, communication roadblocks are causing confusion.

The coronavirus pandemic has forced the closure of many day laborer centers throughout the country, including most in California, putting thousands of people out of work. “We did it to protect workers, the community and employers. It is not good that 50 labor workers are together in a center waiting for a job,” said Pablo […]

A line of 500 to 600 people standing six feet apart snaked around a parking lot and multiple city blocks in downtown Los Angeles. Many were hotel and restaurant workers, Dodger Stadium employees and airline chefs. All had lost their jobs or were working reduced hours amid the coronavirus pandemic. One by one, they walked […]

The wheels of the eviction process are still turning in many parts of the state, and renters can remain subject to ejection for many reasons.

Sunnyvale Community Services, the city’s largest safety-net agency, has been turned “upside down,” organizers say, as coronavirus cases rise in the Bay Area and the region has ordered millions of residents to shelter in place. Already, the nonprofit has had to cancel its weekly produce distribution indefinitely due to volunteer shortages and has seen a surge […]

Donna Insalaco had to lay off 40 of the 45 employees at Pizzaiolo, her gourmet pizzeria in downtown Oakland, after sales fell through a “black hole.” “A lot of tears,” Insalaco said, “All of us here live check-to-check.” Responding to a statewide call for restaurants to close their doors to dine-in customers, Pizzaiolo is now […]