Known on the streets of Berkeley as “the soup lady,” Barbara Brust died Feb. 25 at the age of 69.
Brust founded Consider the Homeless!, or CTH!, shortly after Thanksgiving Day in 2014, when she brought meals to encamped individuals at Provo Park. Since then, the organization has continued to deliver food, clothes and other supplies to Berkeley’s unsheltered population.
Berkeley declared Dec. 1, 2020, as “Barbara Brust Day” in honor of her community work and advocacy for people without housing.
Those closest to Brust described her as a “straight shooter,” a fiercely tender friend and a “bulldozer for justice.”
When CTH! was getting off the ground, Brust did not have any volunteers, outside guidance, nonprofit status or soup recipes that had been tested, according to her friend Deb Bryant.
Remembering Barbara Brust, founder of Consider the Homeless! berkeleyside.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from berkeleyside.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
City of Berkeley must continue work with advocacy groups to aid unhoused communities
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has uprooted life as we know it. Our community has faced unprecedented challenges, but for our unhoused neighbors, the pandemic has further amplified already-existing issues. People experiencing homelessness in Berkeley continue to be affected by water insecurity and encampment sweeps.
Although water insecurity burdened individuals experiencing homelessness prior to the pandemic, many could rely on public libraries and college campuses for drinking and hand-washing water. This is no longer the case. Being deprived of basic sanitation during a pandemic is cruel, especially when unhoused individuals are frequently unable to social distance or receive reliable health care. Inadequate access to sanitation resources has devastated unhoused communities before, notably in San Diego where the city’s neglect led to a deadly two-year hepatitis A outbreak. The city of Berk