The continued rise in violence against Asian-Americans, in particular against elders, has spurred communities into action. In Chinatown, a few different groups of volunteers can regularly be seen patrolling the street, keeping an eye out for potential problems. This week, Civic walked along with the Chinatown Safety Patrol.

In late February, the City College Board of Trustees voted to approve sending notices of potential layoffs that, if implemented, would be a 30% cut to salaried expenditures. CCSF says the existence of the college is at stake, and it’s facing a projected budget shortfall of $33 million. Eira Kien, a student, Vick Van Chung, the student trustee, and Mary Bravewoman, a faculty member, have been trying to prevent these cuts and talk about the impact they expect they would have on students and the broader community.

Thousands of people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced after the prime minister of Ethiopia launched a military offensive in Ethiopia's Tigray region last November. Mellay Menelik, a San Franciscan who was in Tigray when fighting began, and Henock Woldu, who has been organizing with the Bay Area Tigrayan community to call for action to bring an end to the humanitarian crisis, share their experiences.

From early on, the coronavirus pandemic has laid bare stark health inequities through infection and death rates. Testing access quickly became a concern, and now, so has vaccine access — state health department data indicate that Black and Latino Californians are under-represented among people getting vaccinated. Dr. Kim Rhoads and Dr. Carina Marquez, who have been working on community-driven initiatives to address those inequities, talk about the importance of prevention and community engagement to public health.

At the beginning of the year, a tenant attorney predicted an “avalanche” of evictions unless California legislators reached a deal to extend tenant protections. They did, and applications recently opened for a support program designed to help both low-income tenants and their landlords with growing rent debt. Shanti Singh, legislative and communications director for Tenants Together, a coalition of 50 renters rights organizations in California, gives an overview of the protections and what tenants and landlords must do to access support funds.

Reporters Nuala Bishari and Brian Howey reflect on covering homelessness policy in San Francisco over a year of pandemic health measures. They have broken stories on hygiene stations, testing, unused RVs, encampment 'sweeps,' shelter-in-place hotels and vacancies in supportive housing.