California Divide

Read this article in English. Los líderes locales de la ciudad dicen que  Proyecto Homekey  ha sido un éxito en Fresno, hubo refugio a aproximadamente 1,500 personas durante los últimos 18 meses. Los fondos no solo ayudaron a albergar a los residentes sin vivienda de la ciudad, sino que también brindaron la oportunidad de invertir en la […]

As California’s reparations committee embarks on a two-year process to study the harms of slavery and systemic racism, task force members will confront how a single state, which never formally sanctioned slavery, can make amends. During the first meeting, members openly grappled with whether reparations should mean direct payments or long-term investments, such as education and housing, to boost African American households.

California has an opportunity to leverage surplus and stimulus funds to bridge income inequality. Our dashboard from the California Divide team tracks whether the state can turn the tide.

Maya and her girlfriend count themselves lucky to have received rent relief through the federal CARES Act. Now the pressure is on the recent graduate to get hired and stay on top of rent.

More than 2 million Californians are struggling to keep up with rent — many of them single mothers with at least some college education. The situation will be made worse as some unemployment benefits begin to expire after Christmas and landlords begin evicting Feb. 1. This report is part of a multi-month series from the California Divide.

Aleida lost all her work at the start of the coronavirus shutdown. After using up her entire savings to keep her daughter and nephew sheltered, she missed rent for the first time in her life.

Patricia was already spending 75% of her take home pay on rent before the pandemic. Since losing her job as a medical transport driver, the single mother of two has fallen behind on rent.

Susan lost two of her three jobs at the start of California’s shelter-in-place order. She is just barely scraping by each month. Still, this once-homeless single mother says she feels rich compared to what she once had.

In many ways, distance learning is keeping Teresa from making ends meet. The waitress can only work weekends when her son isn’t in class. She’s falling behind on rent and considering moving out of state.

The mutual aid movement has sprung up across California as networks offer food and other forms of relief. But it's too soon to tell if these groups will stick around beyond the pandemic.