Up First from NPR – A Tiny Plot to Call Home

Date: October 19, 2025
Host: Ayesha Rascoe
Guest: Shaina Shealy (Host of the "A Tiny Plot" series, Snap Judgment / KQED)

Overview

This episode offers an in-depth look at America's homelessness crisis, focusing on a small, tightly-knit community living in a tent encampment at Oakland’s Union Point Park. Producer and reporter Shaina Shealy follows the group’s struggle to remain together, their resistance against forced city evictions, and their eventual participation in a groundbreaking experiment in “co-governed” housing. Through interviews and on-the-ground reporting, the episode illuminates the hopes, heartbreaks, and hard realities faced by one group as they fight for dignity, autonomy, and a place to call their own, highlighting broader questions and innovations in addressing homelessness in America.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Setting the Scene: Union Point Park Encampment

• Vivid Urban Contrast: The park sits along a working marina, filled with sailboats and scenic views, yet also hosts a large homeless community.
• The tent encampment becomes both a refuge and a point of contention between residents, business owners, and local authorities.

“Sometimes at night when the sun’s setting in the summer, you’d forget where you were. You think you’re in paradise almost, you know.”
—Mike “Mustache Mike” Newman, resident (05:03)

• Community & Family: Deep bonds formed, with figures like “Mama Dee” providing practical and emotional leadership.

“We was a family. We was a community that wouldn't let nobody come in and take that from us.”
—Deanna “Mama Dee” Riley (01:25)

2. Tension and Conflict with the City

• Encampments face mounting pressure from complaints about safety and crime; the city responds with frequent “sweeps.”
• Impactful Audio: News reports play, citing the park as a source of “filth and crime,” while also revealing interviews about violent incidents, illustrating real dangers but also the way issues are broadcast and perceived.
• Personal Loss and Trauma: Encampment clearances often mean the destruction of irreplaceable belongings and disruption of fragile support systems.

“They brought in these weird machines […] and they just munches and crunches and rips and tears everything in its path. They look like langoliers… They eatin the sky away.”
—Edward Hansen, resident, on city ‘sweeps’ (08:31)

3. The Inadequacy of City-Run Transitional Housing

• When displaced, residents are offered shelter in temporary “Community Cabins,” but many refuse due to lack of privacy, strict rules, and poor outcomes:

“There’s all these rules. And that runs counter to a lot of people’s, like, strong desire to have a certain degree of freedom in their life.”
—Matt “President Matt” Long (11:39)

• Performance Audit: Nearly half who move into these shelters end up back on the streets.

4. Resistance and Negotiation

• Barricades and Shields: Residents organize, build barricades, and face off with city workers to draw attention and force negotiation.

“We was holding these shields, like, go ahead, try to come through, because we’re not letting you in. They see we’re not going to back down. That was crazy.”
—Deanna “Mama Dee” Riley (13:03)

• Strategic Leverage: Residents exploit an environmental agency’s order (which threatens heavy fines if the city doesn’t clear the encampment), giving them bargaining power.

5. Birth of the “Co-Governance” Model

• Co-Governance Explained: Residents propose a model giving them both autonomy and responsibility, modeled on experiments in cities like Seattle and Eugene, which the city’s homelessness administrator, Dariel Dunston, is also exploring.
• Pivotal Moment: Dariel personally joins negotiations atop the barricade, signaling a shift to partnership.

“He cited this, the co-governed model, which sort of addressed the concerns that we had had. I was very much elated… It really seemed very positive, like there was a light at the end of the tunnel.”
—Matt Long (17:55)

• Autonomy vs. Oversight: Unlike city-run housing, co-governance puts budgetary and organizational decisions in residents’ own hands.

“What you have is the power to be your own security, make sure your community stays clean, make sure you’re getting the resources that you need…”
—Mama Dee (18:50)

6. Complexity and Ongoing Challenges

• Even with “victory,” deeper struggles persist: trauma, site selection politics, and the difficulty of consensus—or simply finding land.
• Personal tragedy influencing decisions: Mama Dee opposes moving to the city’s proposed site because her son was murdered there—a powerful example of the overlooked personal histories embedded in policy decisions.

“I'd rather go back to Union Point.”
—Mama Dee (21:27)

• Group loyalty: Despite differing opinions on the new site, most residents won’t go unless Mama Dee does, highlighting the strength of their mutual bonds.
• The community weathers repeated setbacks but continues to push for self-determination and mutual support.

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

| Timestamps | Quote & Speaker | |:---|:---| | 01:25 | “We was a family. We was a community that wouldn't let nobody come in and take that from us.” —Mama Dee | | 05:03 | “Sometimes at night when the sun’s setting in the summer, you’d forget where you were. You think you’re in paradise almost…” —Mustache Mike | | 08:31 | “They brought in these weird machines… munches and crunches and rips and tears everything in his path.” —Edward Hansen | | 11:39 | “There’s all these rules. And that runs counter to a lot of people’s, like, strong desire to have a certain degree of freedom…” —President Matt | | 13:03 | “We was holding these shields, like, go ahead, try to come through, because we’re not letting you in. They see we’re not going to back down.” —Mama Dee | | 17:55 | “He [Dariel] cited this, the co-governed model, which sort of addressed the concerns that we had had. I was very much elated.” —President Matt | | 18:50 | “What you have is the power to be your own security…” —Mama Dee | | 23:00 | “Being homeless is the worst. But on the other hand, I feel proud of us as a community sticking together and getting through what people didn’t think we could do. We’re still gonna stay at it going until the end.” —Mama Dee |

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–04:14 | Introduction, contextualizing the homelessness crisis in America and Oakland; Shaina Shealy introduced
• 04:16–07:17 | Description of Union Point Park, its community atmosphere, and external tensions
• 07:18–11:55 | City’s response, sweeps, why city shelters are rejected, and the sense of autonomy among residents
• 12:16–14:00 | Residents organize, build barricades, and plan to negotiate with the city
• 15:19–18:31 | The “co-governance” concept is introduced by Oakland’s homelessness administrator, leading to direct negotiations atop the encampment barricade
• 19:59–22:16 | Difficulties of finding acceptable land; personal trauma impacts decisions; community cohesion in the face of adversity
• 23:00–23:44 | Closing reflections from Mama Dee; strength and perseverance of the community

Tone and Storytelling

The episode is empathetic, direct, and richly anecdotal, blending firsthand testimony from encampment residents with analysis of public policy and city processes. Lively, often humorous exchanges (“Bed frames and lions and tigers and bears”) balance the grim realities of trauma, violence, and systemic failure.

Conclusion

This episode goes beyond headlines to humanize individuals caught in the homelessness crisis, emphasizing their agency, solidarity, and ingenuity. At the same time, it underscores the complexity and stubbornness of homelessness as a systemic issue, questioning both the efficacy and humanity of conventional “solutions,” while showcasing the hope embodied in community-driven models.

For listeners seeking a compelling, eye-level perspective on homelessness—full of setbacks, small victories, innovation, and heart—this episode and the “A Tiny Plot” series are essential listening.

Links:

• Listen to "A Tiny Plot" (full series): [Available wherever you get your podcasts]
• Support local NPR reporting: Donate here

Produced by NPR’s Sunday Story team. Reporting by Shaina Shealy, hosted by Ayesha Rascoe.