We use cookies and other tracking technologies to enhance your browsing experience. If you continue to use our site, you agree to the use of such cookies. For more info, see our privacy policy.
Skip to main content

Hi. We love you. Be our Life Partner.

Support the show to get ad-free listening, bonus content, and our new Greatest Hits Archive.

Learn more
This American Life Partners logo
00:00
00:00
  • Transcript
  • Share
This American Life
  • Life Partners
  • How to Listen
  • Episodes
  • Recommended
  • About
    • Overview
    • Staff
    • Announcements
    • Fellowships
    • Jobs
    • Music
    • Make Radio
    • On The Road
    • FAQ
    • Submissions
    • Merch
    • Contact Us
    • Our Other Shows
  • Merch
  • Follow Us
  • Life Partners
Full episode
729: Making the Cut
Act Three

Reluctant Bureaucrats

  • Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe in Apple Podcasts
  • Transcript

Reporter Katie Mingle wonders why the 211 hotline in the San Francisco Bay Area for people experiencing homelessness so often turns out to be a dead end for them. She learns that part of the issue is that callers have to give a very specific answer to one question. (16 minutes)

This story is a version of the second episode of According to Need, a 99% Invisible podcast.

By

Katie Mingle

Song:

“I Hope I Get It” by A Chorus Line (1975 Original Broadway Cast)

More in Homelessness

View all
664: The Room of Requirement
Dec. 28, 2018

Act Three: Growing Shelf-Awareness

Lydia Sigwarth spent a lot of time in her public library growing up – all day, almost every day, for six months straight.
446: Living Without (2011)
Sept. 16, 2011

Act Three: The Call Of The Great Indoors

Every week, Chelsea Merz has lunch with a homeless man named Matthew, in the same restaurant.
407: The Bridge
May 7, 2010

Act Three: Throw the Book at Them

Isaiah Thompson tells the story of the Julia Tuttle Causeway in Miami, a bridge that became home to a population of sex offenders, after a powerful lobbyist named Ron Book helped make it illegal for them live almost anywhere else in the city.

Staff Recommendations

View all
334
June 1, 2007

Duty Calls

Josh's family didn't play much of a role in his daily life—until duty called, and they took over his life.

560
July 3, 2015

Abdi and the Golden Ticket

A story about someone who's desperately trying – against long odds – to make it to the United States and become an American.

This American Life

This American Life is produced in collaboration with WBEZ Chicago and delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange.

  • How to Listen
  • Episodes
  • Recommended
  • About
    • Overview
    • Staff
    • Announcements
    • Fellowships
    • Jobs
    • Music
    • Make Radio
    • On The Road
    • FAQ
    • Submissions
    • Merch
    • Contact Us
    • Our Other Shows
  • Merch
  • Contact
  • Life Partners
  • Serial
  • S-Town
© 1995 - 2025 This American Life Privacy Policy | Terms of Use

Share

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email

Subscribe

  • on Spotify
  • in Apple Podcasts

Share

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email