Nicolas Hernandez, a horse groomer at Golden Gate Fields that straddles Berkeley and Albany, greets his 14-year-old cat Frosty on June 6, days before the track closed. Workers living on the backstretch sleep in tack rooms attached to rows of sheds, and had to find new housing after the closure.

Detranay Blakenship holds her child, Myla, after giving birth at Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in Los Angeles. The hospital is fighting to maintain maternity care services when over the last decade nearly 50 maternity wards have closed across California, with more than half shutting down in the last four years. 

Nieves Pacheco from Jalisco, Mexico, has lived in Redwood City for 36 years and is part of a Bay Area movement to adopt rent stabilization. She has lived in the same two-bedroom apartment for 22 years, but in the last 12 years her monthly rent has more than doubled— from $975 to $2,575. She is pictured on May 28. 

The men’s soccer team for Venezuela sings the national anthem before kick off against Ecuador for the Copa America soccer tournament at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, on June 22. The tournament is being held in the United States from June 20 to July 14.

Trans rights activist Anjali Rimi is seen in her home on Feb. 8, 2023 in the Bay Area. Rimi, co-founder of Parivar Bay Area, says that by wearing a saree “I am defying the world’s way of saying you were born a man, you cannot be a woman.”

Ron Clayton and Missy (no last name given) exchange a kiss in the motel where Ron lives in San Bernardino on June 17. They recently met, and Missy helps Ron manage his multiple health challenges that have been exacerbated from over 15 years of experiencing homelessness.

Lovely Quinoñes, 3, stands for a portrait with her Puerto Rican outfit on Bryant Street in the Mission District before the 46th Carnaval Grand Parade begins in San Francisco on May 26. 

A horse and rider are seen at Golden Gate Fields, a race track that straddles Berkeley and Albany, on June 6. Hundreds of migrant workers and families living in the backstretch will leave the track after its closing on June 9. Many are scrambling to secure new work, housing, and schools for their children across California.