The Bay Agenda: Real Solutions for Unhoused People

Homelessness is one of the most urgent and complex challenges facing the Bay Area. What are the barriers to real, lasting solutions—and what is being done to address them?

Join us for a thoughtful, solutions-oriented conversation about the realities of homelessness, the policies shaping the crisis, and the grassroots efforts working toward change. Moderated by Alastair Boone, Director of Street Spirit, this discussion will feature voices from both the advocacy and lived-experience perspectives.

We’ll begin with a look at Wood Street, a forthcoming documentary by journalist and filmmaker Caron Creighton, using its trailer as a springboard to explore the daily realities of unhoused people—from encampment sweeps to the disconnect between available resources and actual needs. The conversation will also highlight solutions, including community-led initiatives that activists like John Janosko are championing and the role of local governments in enacting sustainable change.

Panelists Include:

Caron Creighton is an award winning journalist and filmmaker residing in the Bay Area. Her feature documentary Wood Street has received support from the 2023/24 SF Film FilmHouse Residency, the 2024 Big Sky Pitch, and the 2024 BAVC MediaMaker Fellowship. Wood Street won the 2025 Realscreen Pitch competition in Miami, and will participate in Black Public Media’s PitchBlack Forum in New York in April. She also earned this year's UFO x Peace is Loud Impact-Post residency. Caron has worked for The Associated Press, AJ+ and The San Francisco Chronicle and has lectured at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She has reported on the struggles faced by Eritrean migrants in Israel, and West African migration through Latin America. Much of her work is focused on displacement within the African diaspora, as informed by her identity.

John Janosko was unhoused for over ten years before recently moving into his own apartment in Oakland. He is a staunch community activist for the unhoused, a chef, and an organizer. He was a leader in the movement to to represent the interests of his neighbors in the Wood Street community encampment, and recently helped lead the third annual "homeless helping homeless" bike ride, during which a group of unhoused Oaklanders and their advocates biked 106 miles to Sacramento, where they spoke to lawmakers about the negative impacts of Governor Gavin Newsom’s recent executive order on encampment sweeps. These days, he is lobbying for creative solutions to homelessness, such as a vision for sanctioned encampment communities in Oakland.

Alastair Boone is the Director of Street Spirit newspaper, and a member of KALW's 2024 Audio Academy.

Please become a KALW member today and receive your first drink on us at all 220 Montgomery events.

📍 220 Montgomery St., San Francisco, 2 blocks from BART/MUNI
🚪 Doors open at 5:00
🗣️ Program begins at 6:00
🍷 Refreshments for donation (and KALW members get their first one on the house)
🆓 The event is free with an RSVP — and you are welcome to donate what you want

Please note:

• The event space is just to the left of the main entrance to the Mills Building at 220 Montgomery Street
• We recommend taking BART/MUNI, exiting at Montgomery, and walking two blocks north
• Ride-shares can drop off and pick up directly in front of the venue
• If you drive, there are several garages within two blocks of the event location

Host or Publisher KALW Public Media