Mona Bailey has been spreading aloha among her unhoused community of friends, neighbors, and supporters for 15 years. When she discovered her husband was cheating on her, she ended up at a trolley station crying unconsolably and suicidal. HOT team members got her into the Alpha Project winter tent, then she moved in with a friend who was not the best person to live with. Mona soon discovered she had breast cancer to go along with her asthma and heart condition. Despite her medical conditions, she is low on the list for housing because, as she puts it, “I haven’t been raped and I have no mental health issues. And I’m not trying to get on no cuckoo medicine just to get housing.”

Michael and Macushla walk through San Diego during the day, stopping often to let people pet Macushla - she’s a crowd pleaser. She’s his “darling daughter", a loose translation of the name made famous in the movie Million Dollar Baby. Michael also tries to be a crowd pleaser, never starting arguments, avoiding drugs and alcohol and situations where they dominate the environment. He spent 16 years working at restaurants in Las Vegas before caring for his ailing father, but a couple of personality clashes with his brother and sister landed him on the streets in San Diego. Now he is happy to at least be in a tent at the O Lot, hoping for something more permanent soon.

In a gravely voice, his back to the street, Vernon, 75, related a steady stream of life episodes full of conspiracies, identity theft, property theft, unusual career choices, flirtations with theatrical stardom, and a penchant for both martial arts training and proficiency in Russian ballet. His stylishly all blue outfit and broad toothy grin seemed in contrast to the mountain of belongings on wheels at his side. After 34 years on the streets in San Diego, he has a routine that keeps him fairly safe physically, but doesn’t shield him from theft. The camping bans has brought out some crazy housed people, he said.