Welcome to the first installment of the Best Stories series.

I spend several hours a day steeped in this world and consume everything I can about the issues that create and sustain homelessness.

I’m looking for hopeful, fair, and solution-oriented articles, essays, and interviews. It’s fascinating and a lot of work, so I thought it would be good to share some of the best articles I’ve found (and not behind paywalls when I can find them).

These three articles, two from the LA Times, and one for the SF Standard describe different solutions to homelessness: policy, community, and compassion. I’m excited to offer them and hear what you think!

Editorial: Let skid row have affordable and market-rate housing. It’s the forward-looking thing to do.

The historic Catalina building, seen in July 2019, has been repurposed for restaurants, distribution, retail, industrial, and creative office space at 443 S. San Pedro St. in Los Angeles. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

Column: A vast, teeming retirement community called skid row - Los Angeles Times
by Steve Lopez

Earlie King Jr., 65, in the downtown Los Angeles alley where he lived for most of his adult life. (Steve Lopez/Los Angeles Times)

Former UCLA Basketball Star Offering Security to Neighbors
by Ethan Kassel

Omm'A Givens, who played on UCLA's 1995 championship basketball team, walks across Leavenworth Street on Feb. 7, 2023. (Ethan Kassel/The Standard)

Try as I might, here’s no way I can read and listen to everything on this topic, so I invite you to please send me links to the stories you care about. Thank you!