Social Abuse: Community, Care & Contracts
Social Abuse — Community, Care & Contracts exists to explore the systems, policies, and power structures that shape the lives of unhoused people in America and to bring policymakers, service providers, and the people being served to the same table in pursuit of a shared standard of human dignity.
We are a podcast for anyone working in, affected by, or simply paying attention to the systems that shape the lives of unhoused people, the people doing the work, making the decisions, and living with the consequences, and for everyone who believes that dignity should never be optional and that we can always do better.
Every episode goes beyond the headlines and into the conversations that rarely happen in public, pulling back the curtain on how decisions about unhoused people actually get made. Into the rooms where contracts are awarded and policies are shaped, yet the people most affected are too often the last ones in the room. Into the frontlines where dedicated workers fill the gaps institutions leave behind, and the systems designed to track poverty rather than end it. Because when the gap between policy and people goes unaddressed, everyone pays the price.
We believe that behind every person without a home is a complex story. For some, it is a system that failed them. For others, it is the cumulative weight of personal choices made before crisis took hold and the absence of the support needed to course correct. In most cases, it is both. What we share across all of those stories is this: systems are made of choices, and choices can always be made differently.
Naming them clearly, honestly, and without apology is the first step toward making better ones.
We are not here to point fingers. We are here to spark honest, grounded conversation that moves people from awareness to action — and builds unity among those who serve, those being served, and the local governments responsible for both.
Our commitment is to the truth of lived experience, the rigor of evidence, and the dignity of every person who has ever been reduced to a statistic, a problem to be managed, or a line item in someone else's budget.
This is the conversation that needs to happen. We’re having it.
Episodes
9 episodes
A Long Way from Toronto: Building Hope for Others with Ralph Payton Episode 9
In this episode, Vanessa sits down with Ralph Payton, Executive Director of the Greater Richmond Interfaith Program (GRIP), for a conversation about what it actually takes to run a family shelter, and what it takes to keep families under one ro...
In Her Own Words - Ana Pineda
Social Abuse Podcast In this episode, Vanessa sits down with Ana Pineda for a candid conversation about her life before, during, and after homelessness. Ana opens up about how she arrived at that season, how addiction entered...
Staying on Your Feet
Life doesn't always go the way we plan, but how we respond when it doesn't says everything. In this episode, host Vanessa Calloway sits down to share a first look at the stories of two families who'll be joining us in upcoming episodes. She giv...
No Real Answers, No Solid Plan — But Still at the Table: Talking with Councilmember Soheila Bana
Council Member Soheila Bana sits down with host Vanessa for the long-awaited Episode 6. The conversation Episode 4 set up after Dr. Jamelia Brown named her as one of the two colleagues who showed up with integrity. Soheila shares her journey fr...
28 Million Dollars & Nobody's Healed: A Solo Conversation on Inner City Housing Crisis & Social Abuse Episode 5
Council Member Soheila Bana had an emergency council meeting. She'll be here in Episode 6. But this week, host Vanessa sits alone with the mic and says everything that's been sitting heavy since Dr. Jamelia Brown gave us one of the most honest,...
Exclusive: Social Abuse - The Cost of Public Service
In this episode, Council Member Dr. Jamelia Brown gets personal. She shares at this point Richmond isn't a city of pride and purpose we're a city of pain and poverty. She's clear on her thoughts regarding the Housing First method.&...
All Hands on Deck - Episode 3
In this episode Host, Vanessa Calloway has open, candid, light hearted conversation with two of Richmond California local candidates. Brandon Evans (Southside Son) running for City Council District 3 and Demnlus Johnson III whose ru...
What's Social Abuse
In Episode 2 of the Social Abuse Podcast,host Vanessa Calloway gets into the heart of what is show is built on, defining, naming, and exposing social abuse in all places it hides. With over 30 years of front-line experience working ...
Welcome- It's Time for Real Talk Episode 1
"What happens whe the people closest to the problem have the least power in the conversation?"Welcome to the Social Abuse Podcast. A space built for real talk, radical transparency, and long overdue accountability. In this de...