Author: Cecilia Martin (Cecilia Martin)

Mental illness is not always hereditary. It’s usually a combination of genetic changes and environmental factors that determines if someone will develop a disorder — and this is true for homeless people. Research and cellular biology has shown that about 5% of diseases are genetically determined, whereas the remaining 95% are environmentally based. This makes...

Two weeks ago we watched in horror the ugly side of the San Jose Police Department. For many of us, the aggression and cruelty was a surprise. For the writers of the In Your Backyard column, this was the police force they’d known for decades. Below are three accounts of what it meant to face...

I have seen many difficulties in my life. Some undeserved — a product of being born poor in an unstable family unit. I have also made many mistakes that have led to repercussions, both emotional and physiological in nature. I was homeless for years. I have feared for my life many times. But nothing comes...

I can’t remember many holidays as a little girl. So much has happened since then, I often struggle to remember much at all about that period in my life. I remember homelessness much more vividly. I recall the holidays on the streets felt particularly lonely, filled with dark sadness, deep despair and nagging hopelessness. Days...