Inside the story that helped young people find a home

Hi everyone, 

It’s often said that good things come to those who wait, and much of journalism – especially investigations – is about waiting. (Well that, a thick skin, and lots and lots of coffee.) It’s not just about the researching, the interviewing and then the writing up – it’s also the part that I spend my time working on, helping the articles make an impact off the page, in the real world.  

Real-world impacts don’t come much more concrete than a change in the law. And so later on I’ll be telling you about how the vet Marc Abraham galvanised celebrities, politicians and the general public to get Lucy’s Law (no relation!) on to the books. (Plus, it was International Dog Day earlier this week, so it’s a perfect excuse to include a cute dog pic.)

(While I’m doing bracket asides, it’s almost the end of August, and that means it’s the last chance for you to take TBIJ’s annual survey. Taking part really helps me understand what makes this newsletter tick, and the kind of stories you want to see from TBIJ. Go on. Press the button.)

Before I get to the shaggy dog story, however, I want to tell you about a project that changed lives by giving young people a home – right where they were also learning.

Gail Cornwall knows all about patience. It was early 2018 when the Californian journalist first heard about a school in San Francisco that had a unique approach to homelessness among its students: building a homeless shelter in the gym. 

So she did what any journalist would do – she got in touch with the people involved.

However, burned by negative media coverage, people working on the project were understandably wary of a journalist sniffing around. Gail had to work carefully, step by step, to gain the trust of city officers, vulnerable families, staff and students at the school, Buena Vista Horace Mann (BVHM). Many of the families who used the shelter were undocumented and in a particularly precarious position. 

In December 2021, nearly four years after she first became aware of the project, Gail finally stepped foot into the school itself.  

As her fascinating, award-winning article details, at least 60% of the school’s students are deemed “socioeconomically disadvantaged”. Instead of a bedroom and a place to feel safe, some students were sleeping in overcrowded rooms, abusive households or even cars. 

The school staff were seeing the effects right in front of them. One of those Gail spoke to was Nick Chandler, BVHM’s community school coordinator:

Just as it took time for Gail to see inside the project, the local community took a while to warm up to the notion that turning the school’s gym into a homeless shelter was a good idea.

One thing that stayed with me from Gail’s reporting was the humanity with which the team behind the project responded to the community concerns. For example, when asked whether the school would allow “people with a criminal record … [or] mental illness” to sleep in the shelter, the team responded:

“The participants will be BVHM students and their immediate families. These are the same people at back-to-school night, performances, daily drop off and pick-up.”

The shelter officially launched in early 2019 and was soon expanded to include more schools, to ensure it was cost-effective. 

The teachers noticed that children who were using the shelter had improved attendance and were happier and calmer. A 2020 report by the City of San Francisco stated that most people involved had positive experiences. In the first 11 months, 193 individuals from 59 families were helped.

Gail received emails from parents interested in starting similar programmes in schools elsewhere, both in the US and beyond.

By diving deep into the issue and taking the time to get to know the different individuals involved, Gail really got to the heart of this school project, and reported what she saw – warts and all. 

“One of the beautiful things about the programme is also a challenge, in that they don’t kick folks out after a specific number of nights,” Gail told me. “So it’s a question of does having this solution make the system less quick to act to get them real housing?

“But I still come back to the families who are there who otherwise have nowhere to go … nobody’s first choice is to sleep on the floor of a gymnasium.”

So, was this piece, with all the hours of emails, messages and phone calls – and five visits to the school – worth it? Gail is unequivocal: “To think that this would impact even one family, and mean that they would not have to sleep in a car, was great.”

“I used to run an emergency clinic in Brighton, and one night in 2009 we had eight puppies come in with a deadly disease called parvovirus. You rarely see it because dogs are usually vaccinated, so this was unprecedented. It suggested the puppies could be from unscrupulous breeders who rarely vaccinate and remain unaccountable.

Families have paid a legal, licensed third-party seller thousands for a new puppy, which is now sick or even dying. It’s unjust. I peeled off some stickers from the paperwork and found that the puppies were being sourced from a puppy farm in Wales, which was also licensed. 

~ Lucy here: The golden rule of buying a puppy is that you should always see the puppy interacting with mum. If a breeder won’t show you them together then you should suspect the puppy was farmed. And this is what really got Marc angry: on one hand, the government was telling people to be responsible purchasers, but then, on the other, was also licensing premises where this clearly couldn’t happen. ~

I started a campaign to help people to choose a puppy responsibly. I had no idea about politics or law or campaigning, but I was a nerdy vet who was on telly at the time, which definitely helped. 

I got invited to judge a lot of charity dog shows and was always amazed at the British public’s behaviour – whatever the weather they would turn out and hope their dog won a rosette. I started a dog show called Pup Aid, after Live Aid. After three years in Brighton, UK, we moved it to London and had celebrity guests including Ricky Gervais, Liam Gallagher and Elle Macpherson. 

The former MP Caroline Lucas was a judge at one and invited me to Westminster for a chat. She suggested I start an online petition. We eventually got 100,000 signatures, which meant we got a debate in the House of Commons. I managed to persuade 94 cross-party MPs to support me. It was one of the hardest things I ever did. But sadly we lost that first debate, I later learned because of certain organisations behind the scenes with apparent vested interests, lobbying against what I was trying to do.

We used every political tool in the toolbox: petitions, debates, we were even involved in a select committee inquiry. I set up the all party parliamentary group on dog welfare.

Andrew Penman, a journalist from The Mirror, had been covering puppy farms for a while. We got in touch and The Mirror then became our media partner, which was fantastic.

The name Lucy’s Law came from Lucy, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who was rescued from a puppy farm. Her owner, Lisa Garner, rehabilitated her and she lived an extra three years despite many health problems. Lisa made her into a Facebook superstar. Lucy became my Princess Diana! In 2020, Lucy’s Law finally made it into legislation.

When I’m asked what impact it’s had, I say it’s now much harder to buy poorly bred puppies and kittens because they’re no longer available on the high street. All dog and cat breeders are now accountable. There have been a few successful prosecutions, plus it’s definitely raised awareness. 

All grassroots campaigning is underpinned by just caring enough about an issue to do something – and everyone has that in them.”

On the theme of patience, luckily you only have to wait one week until the next issue of The Spark. In the meantime, if you want to get in touch and tell me what you think of this week’s stories or let me know of any other great pieces of journalism I should be reading, email me. (Or fill in the survey! I promise it’s the last time I’m going to mention it!)

Or if you have any cute puppy or kitten pics, hit me up.