WOOD STREET centers on John and LaMonté—two unhoused men turned community leaders—who organize their neighbors in the face of displacement, addiction, and a failing social system. Their story is a powerful testament to resilience, solidarity, and the right to remain.

The Story

WOOD STREET shows a year in the life of Oakland’s largest homeless encampment as there’s a countdown to evict them. Members of the community come together to file lawsuits, attend city council meetings, and camp outside city hall. Despite eventually losing their community, WOOD STREET is an empowering story of unhoused organizing that has never before been told.

The story follows John Janosko and LaMonté Ford. They lead the resistance movement, and face challenges organizing a diverse community struggling with addiction and mental health issues. Amid their organizing to stop the eviction, the community meets with the city to discuss plans for a temporary shelter site. But ultimately, they are unsuccessful in changing a broken system, and saving their community.

California provides millions of dollars in grants to cities to forcibly remove unhoused people from sight. But cities like Oakland often don’t keep track of the results, offering limited data on how many people actually move into permanent housing. WOOD STREET is an empowering example of a community rallying together in an attempt to change things for the better.

Why We Need Your Support

WOOD STREET is a film made in partnership with the Wood Street Commons community. Since facing eviction, the Wood Street community has come together to form a non-profit organization. They are working with architect Mike Pyatok to design and fundraise to build multi-layered affordable housing that meets people where they're at. You can learn more about their work on their website.

Creating an independent feature film is expensive! We need the support of our community to be able to bring the Wood Street documentary, and members of the Wood Street community, to film festivals across the country.

We had our world premiere at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in February, where the film won Best Feature. We also engaged with the local unhoused community and advocates in conversation about how to combat laws that criminalize unhoused people.

In June 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, making it legal to ban people from sleeping outside without available alternative shelter– essentially criminalizing homelessness. Dissenting Justice Sotomayor wrote that the ruling “leaves the most vulnerable in our society with an impossible choice: Either stay awake or be arrested.”

Today, countless communities across the country are experiencing encampment sweeps and other laws that make it illegal for unhoused people to exist in public. We aim to bring the film to more cities, so we can share the Wood Street story, and try to find solutions together.

Wood Street Documentary Fundraiser

Help us bring the film and the Wood Street community across the country

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