Community Corner
VOSD Podcast: One Family's Story Says It All About Homelessness
Plus: As ever, 101 Ash St. and its sister building, the Civic Center Plaza, are a big old blemish on the city of San Diego's face.
June 24, 2022
Four months ago, Voice of San Diego reporter Lisa Halverstadt got an email.
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A local woman, Natalie Raschke, asked Halverstadt to tell her family’s story. “My kids matter, they have faces, they deserve to be heard and seen. I’m hoping you can help me achieve that,” she wrote.
The Raschke’s are a family of six, with kids from ages 4 to 15. Through the course of the pandemic, Raschke and her husband lost their jobs in the service industry. They tried to move, set up a temporary living, keep life in balance. But quickly, all their plans imploded.
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Halverstadt and photojournalist Peggy Peattie spent a ton of time with this family to get their story — to learn their routines, the obstacles they face and how they’re fighting to stay afloat in a horrific housing market.
VOSD Podcast host Andrea Lopez-Villafaña called up Halverstadt on this week’s podcast to hear the Raschke’s tale and how it fits into the big picture of San Diego’s homelessness crisis.
Real quick: Our San Diego 101 podcast series featured Halverstadt and this topic. “Three Myths About Homelessness” is the most popular episode of that series. It’s really good. You can find that in the San Diego 101 podcast feed or your Voice of San Diego feed.
The City Wants to Throw Money at It
As ever, 101 Ash St. and its sister building, the Civic Center Plaza, are a big old blemish on the city of San Diego’s face. But this week, city officials proposed a way to pop it.
On Monday, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and other city officials unveiled a proposed settlement to try to resolve a legal fight with the city’s landlord at 101 Ash St. and lenders who helped make that lease.
Halverstadt had the story this week that outlined how the city wants to buyout the properties and end some of the legal uncertainty surrounding them.
On the show this week, hosts Scott Lewis and Andrew Keatts broke down the latest and discussed one development from a key political player: City Attorney Mara Elliott has urged the City Council not to approve the settlement.
There’s a lot to unpack here, so let’s get to it.
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