In Oakland, one nonprofit looks beyond the dog days

Homelessness ends with a home... Technically. But there’s much more to it, and the path to live indoors is most always complicated. 

For many unhoused people, access to services is only half the battle. The other half is trust. Like the disappointment of overpromised services that don’t deliver, inadequate shelter conditions, and just the accumulated trauma of life on the street. All that can leave people deeply skeptical of the outreach workers and programs meant to help them. 

So what does it actually take to build trust across that divide? One Oakland organization may have found a starting point: pets. KALW’s Homelessness reporter Alastair Boone went to learn more.