Film: He Had Wings and Panel Discussion

He Had Wings (2022) is a short documentary film about the artist Ronnie Goodman, homelessness and the streets of San Francisco. After the screening, journalist Kevin Fagan facilitates a panel discussion with representatives of community organizations.

Panel

Kevin Fagan, Journalist with The San Francisco Chronicle, Emcee

Dr. Margot Kushel, Director, Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, UCSF/SFGH

Joe Wilson, Executive Director of Hospitality House

Jennifer Friedenbach, Executive Director, Coalition on Homelessness, San Francisco

Matty Shirer, Director of San Francisco and San Mateo Downtown Streets Team

Jeanne Marie Hallacy is a documentary filmmaker and co-founder of Kirana Productions which creates independent human rights films for global awareness and education. Kirana's team of media and human rights professionals works with local organizations to amplify the voices of communities affected by social inequity, discrimination, and human rights abuses. 

Kevin Fagan is a longtime, award-winning reporter at The San Francisco Chronicle, specializing in homelessness, enterprise news-feature writing, breaking news and crime. He has ridden the rails with modern-day hobos, witnessed seven prison executions, written extensively about serial killers including the Unabomber, Doodler and Zodiac, and covered disasters ranging from the Sept. 11 terror attacks at Ground Zero to California’s devastating wildfires. Homelessness remains a core focus of his, close to his heart as a journalist who cares passionately about the human condition.

Margot Kushel, MD, is a Professor of Medicine at University of California San Francisco, Division Chief and Director of the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations and Director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative (BHHI). She is a practicing general internist at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. Margot’s research focuses on the causes and consequences of homelessness and housing instability, with the goal of preventing and ending homelessness and ameliorating the effects of homelessness and housing instability on health. She speaks at local, state, and national levels about issues of homelessness and frequently provides testimony to legislative bodies.

Joe Wilson previously served as Hospitality House’s Community Building Program Manager, as well as their Deputy Director of Programs. Prior to Hospitality House, Joe was the Assistant Organizing Director for the 1.6 million-member American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and was the director of the California Child Care Campaign to organize nearly 50,000 family childcare providers. For nearly a decade, Joe was Associate Director at Coleman Advocates for Children & Youth, the City’s premier child advocacy group. Joe has helped create numerous organizations, including the Coalition on Homelessness in 1987, the Coalition for Ethical Welfare Reform, and Voices of Early Child Care Educators (VOICE). He is also the co-chair of Market Street for the Masses, the Steering Committee of the San Francisco Human Services Network, and the Executive Committee of the Homeless Emergency Service Providers Association (HESPA). Joe was formerly homeless and a shelter resident of Hospitality House in the early Eighties. He was featured in the PBS NewsHour segment "Brief But Spectacular."

Jennifer Friedenbach is the Executive Director of the Coalition on Homelessness in San Francisco. She has worked for the Coalition for 27 years and was previously Director of the Hunger and Homeless Action Coalition of San Mateo County. Ms. Friedenbach has a long history of community organizing and has worked on a range of poverty-related issues. She has achieved significant victories alongside homeless people, including successfully fighting for the creation of thousands of units of housing and rental assistance slots. Ms. Friedenbach is committed to the struggle to end mass homelessness by addressing the structural causes, correcting inequity and crafting permanent fixes. The Coalition on Homelessness develops consensus on solutions to the homeless crisis centered on the experience and expertise of those who have survived or are still living without housing.

Matty Shirer is the Director for Downtown Streets Team (DST) in San Francisco and San Mateo County. After moving to San Francisco, he left behind his industrial and operations engineering roots to understand one of the Bay Area's biggest problems: homelessness. Joining DST and launching the Redwood City Team in 2019, Matty saw, heard and felt the challenges faced by people experiencing homelessness in the Bay Area as the pandemic changed the entire landscape of services. Matty supports teams of case managers and employment specialists who work hand-in-hand with over 100 team members (the volunteers DST serves). He hopes to continue building creative pathways out of homelessness, while changing its perception. Please reach out to him at Matty@StreetsTeam.org.

Connect

Jeanne Marie Hallacy -- Website

Kevin Fagan – Website

Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative – Website

Margot Kushel – Twitter

Hospitality House – Website

Coalition on Homelessness – Website

Downtown Streets Team – Website