Over the course of this season of SHARING STORIES, you to got meet a few folks who’ve recently received one-time support from Season of Sharing Fund — and a couple who help make it happen.  

In this final episdoe, we end on a hopeful note. I asked many of the people who were profiled: what would you do if you had a magic wand — with three wishes? Here's what they said...

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SHARING STORIES is a new a series of portraits of people in the Bay Area who have received one-time emergency rental assistance that I working on with the SF Chronicle Season of Sharing Fund.

Rental assistance programs like Season of Sharing Fund are there for people when a month or two of rent can make the difference between staying in their home or becoming unhoused. Ultimately, rental assistance programs help prevent homelessness.

If you or someone you know has experienced an unforeseen crisis and could benefit from one-time financial assistance from the Season of Sharing Fund, learn how to apply. 

If you want to hear stories from people who benefited from this safety net, subscribe now wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Thanks for listening!

Season of Sharing Fund gave some peace of mind — and dignity — to widower Michael Sharpe as he coped with the death of his wife. A couple of years after his wife Kimberly died, Michael Sharpe still keeps her clothes in the drawers and closets of his small Novato apartment.

When Kimberly was first got diagnosed with uterine cancer in 2020, she was still able to manage her small business. Her cancer went into remission, but over the next year, the business suffered, losing a significant client. By the time Kimberly died, in October 2022, Sharpe was behind on rent.

That’s where social service agency Community Action Marin and the Chronicle Season of Sharing Fund came in. 

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SHARING STORIES is a new a series of portraits of people in the Bay Area who have received one-time emergency rental assistance that I working on with the SF Chronicle Season of Sharing Fund.

Rental assistance programs like Season of Sharing Fund are there for people when a month or two of rent can make the difference between staying in their home or becoming unhoused. Ultimately, rental assistance programs help prevent homelessness.

If you or someone you know has experienced an unforeseen crisis and could benefit from one-time financial assistance from the Season of Sharing Fund, learn how to apply. 

If you want to hear stories from people who benefited from this safety net, subscribe now wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Thanks for listening. And have a safe and happy holiday.

Season of Sharing Fund gave some peace of mind to Jose Guevara while he focused on his daughter's health.  Jose is the proud papa of five, including Patti, 14, Richard, 13, and Emiliee, 5.  Patti Guevara’s pain started two years ago — in her back and her knees. Doctors brushed off her father’s concerns, blamed her symptoms on her weight and sent her home with aspirin. Guevara took her to “basically every hospital” in the area. Finally, in July 2022, physicians at Stanford Children’s Health found a 4-inch tumor on Patti’s spine — and rushed her into surgery. She had Ewing sarcoma, a rare cancer that strikes children and young adults.

Jose had to quit his job to care for Patti and his younger kids. Assistance from the Season of Sharing Fund helped Guevara cover rent as he transitioned from working full time to being Patti’s full-time caregiver, which he is paid for through California’s In-Home Supportive Services Program.

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SHARING STORIES is a new a series of portraits of people in the Bay Area who have received one-time emergency rental assistance that I working on with the SF Chronicle Season of Sharing Fund.

Rental assistance programs like Season of Sharing Fund are there for people when a month or two of rent can make the difference between staying in their home or becoming unhoused. Ultimately, rental assistance programs help prevent homelessness.

If you or someone you know has experienced an unforeseen crisis and could benefit from one-time financial assistance from the Season of Sharing Fund, learn how to apply. 

If you want to hear stories from people who benefited from this safety net, subscribe now wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Thanks for listening. And have a safe and happy holiday.

Did you know it costs upwards of $50,000 to help one person find stable housing after they lose their home? Meanwhile, it takes just a couple thousand to help someone deal with an unexpected financial emergency and stay in their home. That is where the Season of Sharing Fund comes in.

Started in 1986, Season of Sharing Fund is a unique, compassionate homelessness prevention model that's powered by donations from Bay Area neighbors helping neighbors. On this episode, we'll look at how the Fund works. We'll introduce you to Season of Sharing Fund's Executive Director Kevin Swanson, as well as Laurel Hill, a longtime partner from Community Action Marin and Susan Malloy, a client who became a Season of Sharing Fund donor. 

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SHARING STORIES is a new a series of portraits of people in the Bay Area who have received one-time emergency rental assistance that I working on with the SF Chronicle Season of Sharing Fund.

Rental assistance programs like Season of Sharing Fund are there for people when a month or two of rent can make the difference between staying in their home or becoming unhoused. Ultimately, rental assistance programs help prevent homelessness.

If you or someone you know has experienced an unforeseen crisis and could benefit from one-time financial assistance from the Season of Sharing Fund, learn how to apply. 

If you want to hear stories from people who benefited from this safety net, subscribe now wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Thanks for listening. And have a safe and happy holiday.

Season of Sharing Fund gave some peace of mind to retired nonprofit leader Marlus Stewart.  Asking for help wasn’t supposed to be part of Stewart’s story. She was the helper. But in 2019, the unimaginable happened. Stewart’s son, her only child, died of suicide at age 50. The grief was unbearable and struggling with health issues, she "lost everything."  She had been living in her car off and on for about six months when she connected with Season of Sharing through Catholic Charities. Season of Sharing Fund helped paid her deposit after she won a housing lottery in Sonoma. Now, she and her dog Mercedes Marie have a place to call home. 

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SHARING STORIES is a new a series of portraits of people in the Bay Area who have received one-time emergency rental assistance that I working on with the SF Chronicle Season of Sharing Fund.

Rental assistance programs like Season of Sharing Fund are there for people when a month or two of rent can make the difference between staying in their home or becoming unhoused. Ultimately, rental assistance programs help prevent homelessness.

If you or someone you know has experienced an unforeseen crisis and could benefit from one-time financial assistance from the Season of Sharing Fund, learn how to apply. 

If you want to hear stories from people who benefited from this safety net, subscribe now wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Thanks for listening. And have a safe and happy holiday.

Season of Sharing Fund gave some peace of mind to aspiring boxing champ Keoni Washington, who became parent and breadwinner to his brothers after their mother passed  away early in the pandemic. We meet him at the East Bay apartment he shares with three of his brothers. Keoni received rental assistance from Season of Sharing Fund in 2023, which has allowed him and his brothers to stay in their home. SHARING STORIES is a new a series of portraits of people in the Bay Area who have received one-time emergency rental assistance that I working on with the SF Chronicle Season of Sharing Fund.

Rental assistance programs like Season of Sharing Fund are there for people when a month or two of rent can make the difference between staying in their home or becoming unhoused. Ultimately, rental assistance programs help prevent homelessness.

If you or someone you know has experienced an unforeseen crisis and could benefit from one-time financial assistance from the Season of Sharing Fund, learn how to apply. 

If you want to hear stories from people who benefited from this safety net, subscribe now wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Thanks for listening. And have a safe and happy holiday.

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NOTE TO PODCASTERS: SHARING STORIES is part of a national public service campaign to raise awareness of rental assistance programs. It encourages podcasters to share an episode of this series (or the trailer) with their listeners. If you are interested in joining the campaign, just reach out to dboyer AT yoideaman DOT com. 

It's been awhile since I've dropped an episode, but I hope to revisit THE INTERSECTION in the New Year.  In the meantime, I wanted to share a project I've been working on called SHARING STORIES. It's a series of portraits of people in the Bay Area who have received one-time emergency rental assistance from SF Chronicle Season of Sharing Fund.

Rental assistance programs like Season of Sharing Fund are there for people when a month or two of rent can make the difference between staying in their home or becoming unhoused. Ultimately, rental assistance programs help prevent homelessness.

If you or someone you know has experienced an unforeseen crisis and could benefit from one-time financial assistance from the Season of Sharing Fund, learn how to apply. 

If you want to hear stories from people who benefited from this safety net, subscribe now wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Thanks for listening. And have a safe and happy holiday.

As the media portrays 2023's Burning Man as a hellscape, THE INTERSECTION at Burning Man revists the work of a group of Burners at the 2019 event. They felt that the overwhelmingly white community wasn't living up to its self-proclaimed principle of Radical Inclusion. Find out what has changed and what hasn't. And, as you are bombarded with online click bait about 70,000 people being stranded in the desert, I encourage you to listen to the nine-episode season of THE INTERSECTION at Burning Man. You’ll hear the stories of an insanely creative, giving, conscious, and unconventional community. 

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Go to THE INTERSECTION.FM to learn more about the series. To learn more about Erin Douglas, founder of @blackburnerproject and the lead artist of Black! Asé, check out the project's website.  For all things Favianna Rodriguez, head to Favianna's website.

The photo that accompanies this episode was taken by Erin Douglas. a.k.a. @aphotochick

One of the principles guiding Burning Man is "Radical Inclusion." Basically, all are welcome. But, the temporary city that Burners build in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert has never been racially diverse. Just 1% of Black Rock City self-identifies as Black. In this episode of THE INTERSECTION at Burning Man, we explore why there's been a disconnect between racial and radical inclusion, and what some Burners, like Oakland Activist and Artist Favianna Rodriguez, are doing to change that.  

This episode was edited by Lisa Morehouse. And engineered for your listening pleasure by Gabe Grabin with music from Erik Pearson and Blue Dot Sessions. Special thanks to Jenee Darden, Jonathan Davis and Jessie Weiner. And of course to the folks at Que Viva and the Burning Man Project.

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Donate: paypal.me/THEINTERSECTION  // Hear more: www.theintersection.fm  // Twitter: @IntersectionFM // Facebook: fb.com/IntersectionFM

Burning Man is known for a lot of things: The art. The parties. The wooden man that’s set on ablaze every year. But most Burners don’t know much about the history of the land or its original inhabitants: the Pyramid Lake Paiutes  In this episode of THE INTERSECTION, reporter Lucy Kang explores the Piautes and their relationship to Burning Man. 

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You can support the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe through Comfort & Joy's fundraising campaign on Facebook. ---

This episode is a co-prodction of KALW and KPFA. It was edited by David Boyer and engineered by Gabe Grabin with theme music from Erik Pearson. Songs from the album Circle Dance Songs of the Paiute and Shoshone by Judy Trejo ARE courtesy of Canyon Records. "Sweet Betsy From Pike" was performed by Zelmer Ward and Vester Whitworth. 

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Donate: paypal.me/THEINTERSECTION  // Hear more: www.theintersection.fm  // Twitter: @IntersectionFM // Facebook: fb.com/IntersectionFM

Deep in the Black Rock Desert, way beyond the theme camps and the effigy that gives Burning Man its name, there’s another elaborate wooden structure: it blends art and architecture, inside and out. And, arguably, it’s the sacred and spiritual center of the event.Burners simply call it “The Temple.” “Grief” is perhaps the most apparent emotion expressed and experienced here. That specific grief that comes with losing a loved one and the more diffuse grief that can come with simply being alive on this planet at this moment. 

Why is there such attachment to a temporary structure that’s little more than wood and nails? Reporter Jonathan Davis went in search of the answer.