The Lost and the Found: A True Story of Homelessness, Found Family, and Second Chances by Kevin Fagan.
One Signal Publishers, 2025, 251 pages. $28.99 at Barnes and Noble.
Kevin Fagan is a longtime award-winning reporter, having spent over three decades at the San Francisco Chronicle. He has been nominated several times for the Pulitzer Prize. During his career he has covered homelessness, the 9/11 terror attacks, serial killers, California’s wildfires, and more.
A “riveting, deeply compassionate” (The New York Times) narrative of homelessness, despair, and hope.
Journalist Kevin Fagan has been covering homelessness for decades and has spent extensive time on the streets for his reporting. In The Lost and the Found, Fagan introduces us to Rita and Tyson. Both lived in what is known as “the tenderloin” in San Francisco. the best-known center of homelessness. These two unhoused people, who were rescued by their families with the help of his Kevin’s reporting. Fagan chronicles their extraordinary struggles to pull themselves out of homelessness and addiction.
Having experienced homelessness himself, Fagan has always brought a deep understanding to his subjects and has written here more than just a story of individuals experiencing homelessness. He has written a compelling book about the link between homelessness and addiction and an incisive commentary on housing and equality. The Lost and the Found ends with both enormous tragedy and triumph to humanize this national calamity, forever changing the way we see the unhoused.
Kevin himself experienced homelessness as a teen when his mother told him to get out. This book helped me understand homelessness and addiction more fully. At the end of the book, Fagan lists books he has read that have helped him understand homelessness.
Considering our childcare agencies, some of those being cared for have experienced homelessness and addiction. At the end of the book, Fagan shares how one can help those in these situations.