A homeless California veteran was denied a housing voucher for being too sick. But he believes healing isn’t possible without housing.

It’s difficult to say whether Delmar Dreaming Bear struggles more asleep or awake.

Some nights he dreams that the ground is about to swallow him. Other nightmares feature killers in pursuit. If he wakes, say, around midnight and doesn’t want to go back to sleep, his adult son may sit up with him until sunrise. But daylight brings its own challenges: Dreaming Bear’s bandages need changing and his colostomy bag, which dangles down where his legs used to be, requires emptying.

This...