‘I’ve never seen so much vitriol’: activist Paul Boden on America’s homelessness crisis

‘The old system wasn’t perfect by any means. But when it existed, you didn’t have millions of people living out in your streets.’ Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Back in 1983, when a recession and horrible rainstorms thrust homelessness in the political spotlight in San Francisco, Paul Boden was already familiar with life on the streets.

Then 23, he had been squatting, couch-surfing and staying at hostels since he was 16. When he saw people lining up to get spots in San Francisco’s first temporary emergency shelters, Boden volunteered to help out.