During the Covid-19 pandemic, the city of Los Angeles moved thousands of unhoused people into hotel rooms. The program, called Project Roomkey, was a temporary safety net during the national health emergency. But participants soon nicknamed it “Project No Key” because they felt more incarcerated than housed. Reporter Mark Betancourt chronicles their experience in part two of our series on how homelessness is criminalized.

 Find a resource guide and annotated transcript at our website here.