A Mother’s Journey to Save Her Daughter from Addiction, Homelessness

Alexis Madrigal

Dec 15, 2021 at

Save Article

Failed to save article

Please try again

Laurie Steves and daughter Jessica DiDia meet for the first time in nearly 10 years for lunch at Denny’s on Mission Street in San Francisco. (Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle)

Laurie Ann Steves drove from Seattle to San Francisco last May to try to reconnect with her daughter, Jessica, who is addicted to fentanyl and lives on and off the streets of San Francisco. Steves joins us to share how she tried to intervene in her daughter’s life, just months after losing her son to addiction, and we’ll hear from the San Francisco Chronicle journalists who documented her efforts. As we enter the holiday season, which can be a particularly painful time for those wanting to connect with a loved one struggling with mental health problems, homelessness or drug addiction, we get advice from UCSF psychiatrist Dr. Fumi Mitsuishi.

Related link(s):

She set out to save her daughter from fentanyl. She had no idea what she would face on the streets of San Francisco

Guests:

Heather Knight, columnist, San Francisco Chronicle

Laurie Ann Steves, the mother of Jessica, who is addicted to fentanyl in San Francisco

Fumi Mitsuishi , associate Clinical Professor, UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, director, UCSF/ZSFG Division of Citywide Case Management

Gabrielle Lurie, staff photographer, San Francisco Chronicle

Sponsored

lower waypoint

next waypoint

Erik Aadahl on the Power of Sound in Film KQED Youth Takeover: How Can San Jose Schools Create Safer Campuses?Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments in Major Homelessness Case Percival Everett’s Novel “James” Recenters the Story of Huck Finn Have We Entered Into a New Cold War Era?KQED Youth Takeover: How Social Media is Changing Political Advertising Death Doula Alua Arthur on How and Why to Prepare for the End How to Create Your Own ‘Garden Wonderland’First Trump Criminal Trial Underway in New York The Beauty in Finding ‘Other People’s Words’ in Your Own