San Francisco Public Press (https://www.sfpublicpress.org/series/driving-home/page/2/)
Thousands of Bay Area residents are “vehicularly housed,” living in cars, vans, RVs and campers. They like many others in search of alternative shelter are victims of a decades-long affordable housing crisis affecting the whole region. Photojournalist Yesica Prado, who has a unique longstanding connection with communities of vehicle dwellers, takes us behind the scenes to tell the stories of people finding ways to protect themselves and their friends in a sometimes-hostile political climate that restricts their movement and makes daily life more difficult.
On a Sunday afternoon, children play in the Gilman District in West Berkeley. Their family is part of a community of vehicle residents called Friends on Wheels, whose members have parked and lived together for two years. The community is made up of families, students, gig workers, service workers and disabled and elderly people who live in all shapes and sizes of vehicles.
Christian Torres cooks hamburgers on a camping stove. Torres lives inside a Ford E150 white cargo van. He is a photographer from the town of Sanger, near Fresno. He brought his van to the Bay Area, searching for creative opportunities. His daily routine: make breakfast, hit the gym, shower, commute around the city for food and linger at coffee shops or libraries to charge battery packs and electronics for the day.
Merced Dominguez watches the pigeons fly over her garden on Eighth Street. “Every day, they follow me wherever I go,” said Dominguez, throwing birdseed into the driveway. “All the way to the Dollar Tree and back home. They are just waiting for me to feed them.” Dominguez’s regular routine involves setting out food and water on the driveway for stray animals that visit the block, including a street cat she named Cookie and the dozens of pigeons that show up twice a day.
Dusk falls on seven vehicular homes at Eighth and Harrison streets in Berkeley’s Gilman District. For over a year, a vehicular community called Friends on Wheels has found refuge at this intersection, living together for safety and companionship. While searching for safe parking spots and the amenities of everyday life, vehicular residents met and banded together at the Berkeley Marina. But as the community of vehicle dwellers grew, their risk of being towed and receiving further citations forced people to leave. Vehicle residents had to find another safe place to settle, and so they found a resting spot on the industrialized streets of West Berkeley.
Tolbert gets dressed and does her curly hair for an afternoon work meeting. Tolbert says the RV “is a stepping stone because I want housing.” She is looking for a place costing no more than one-third of her income.
Nelson rearranges the back of his car and recharges his phone. He sleeps on four stacked blankets in the back seat. Sometimes he folds down the seat to stretch his legs into the trunk. He has attached a solar panel to the roof to power essential electronics. “The key to the solar deal is storage,” Nelson said. “I have two batteries separate from the car, so I can run a television, a DVD player and charge up my phone. Now the next question is: How long can I run it for? I would be good for an hour or two. Anything crazy and heavy like a microwave or refrigerator is going to eat you up really quick.”
But bad wiring inside his trunk has proven hazardous. One afternoon while Nelson was charging his devices, an electrical short melted the plastic of the cigarette lighter plug and filled his car with smoke. “I’m lucky I didn’t kill myself,” he said.
The photos here are just a few examples. See the articles and photo essays linked below to explore the whole project, including coronavirus resource guides for vehicle dwellers in San Francisco and Berkeley in English and Spanish; an interview with Yesica Prado discussing the project on “Civic,” our daily news and public affairs podcast and radio program; and “Quarantine Diary,” a behind-the-scenes video documenting what her life is like living in an RV.
“Driving Home: Surviving the Housing Crisis” was produced in collaboration with the Bay Area visual storytelling nonprofit CatchLight through its CatchLight Local Initiative. As a CatchLight Local Fellow at the San Francisco Public Press, Yesica Prado examined the culture of vehicle living in San Francisco and Berkeley. Her fellowship work has been featured by the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and by the Artists Against an #Infodemic Campaign, which aims to improve access to locally relevant public health information.
The CatchLight Local Initiative is funded by the Kresge Foundation, The GroundTruth Project, the Facebook Journalism Project, the Neda Nobari Foundation and the Lisa Stone Pritzker Family Foundation.
Yesica Prado, Freelance writer and photographerThis photo essay accompanies the story “No Address, No Rest: Berkeley Forces Vehicle Dwellers to Keep Rolling,” which is part of the “Driving Home: Surviving the Housing Crisis” project.
Yesica Prado, Freelance writer and photographerEste ensayo fotográfico acompaña a la historia “Sin Dirección, Sin Descanso: Berkeley Obliga a los Habitantes de Vehículos a Seguir Rodando,” que forma parte del proyecto “Conduciendo a Casa: Sobreviviendo la Crisis de la Vivienda” (Driving Home: Surviving the Housing Crisis).
Yesica Prado, Freelance writer and photographerDuring the pandemic, parking enforcement has been lax, and the 72-hour rule that forced Gregory Nelson to park in a new spot every few days is suspended. He found peace and stability staying in one spot — his version of sheltering in place — like millions of Americans. But working from home was not possible for him. Every week he tried to drive for Lyft, Nelson grappled with out-of-pocket expenses to use the ride-hailing app: car rental fees, tolls, gas and the occasional car wash. Within weeks of the shelter-in-place order, Nelson could no longer afford driving.
Yesica Prado, Freelance writer and photographerEarlier this year, the San Francisco Public Press featured Gregory Nelson in “Driving Home: Surviving the Housing Crisis,” a photojournalism project by Yesica Prado documenting the experiences of people living in vehicles in the Bay Area. Prado followed up with Nelson to find out how his life has changed during the pandemic.
Yesica Prado, Freelance writer and photographerIn a dimly lit living room, Tantay Tolbert reaches for a warm bottle of milk on the glass coffee table. Her month-old baby, Supreme Samuel Lloyd-Vaughn, softly cries in her arms. She caresses his black curls as she tilts the bottle into his mouth. “You were hungry, my baby?” Tolbert asks with a smile. “You eat a lot, baby.” It’s an ordinary day for Tolbert — comforting Supreme and dressing him in cute clothes. And yet, what seems ordinary now represents dramatic change and newfound stability.
Yesica Prado, Freelance writer and photographerEarlier this year, the San Francisco Public Press featured Tantay Tolbert in “Driving Home: Surviving the Housing Crisis,” a photojournalism project by Yesica Prado documenting the experiences of people living in vehicles in the Bay Area. Prado followed up with Tolbert to find out how her life has changed in recent months.
