If you’re unhoused, you might wonder if you are eligible to cast a ballot this November. The answer is yes — even without a fixed address. We’ve tried to answer the big questions you might have about voting while experiencing homelessness in this how-to guide, to make sure your voice is heard this Election Day.
Author Archives: Madison Alvarado
Madison Alvarado is a reporter based in San Francisco who is interested in California's housing crisis, environmental justice and structural inequities. In addition to her reporting on public housing and rent relief at the Public Press, she has covered issues related to the coronavirus pandemic, housing and city government for San Francisco news site Mission Local.
Posted inCity Hall, Elections, Public Safety, San Francisco November 2024 Voter Guide
Proposition N — Create Fund to Pay Off First Responders’ Student Loans
See our November 2024 SF Voter Guide for a nonpartisan analysis of measures on the San Francisco ballot, for the election occurring Nov. 5, 2024. The following measure is on that ballot. Proposition N could help pay off first responders’ student loans with the goal of attracting new hires amid staffing shortages. Listen to a summary of what […]
Posted inCity Hall, Elections, Public Safety, San Francisco November 2024 Voter Guide
Proposition I — Give Nurses and 911 Operators Better Pension Plans
See our November 2024 SF Voter Guide for a nonpartisan analysis of measures on the San Francisco ballot, for the election occurring Nov. 5, 2024. The following measure is on that ballot. Proposition I would improve retirement packages for 911 call dispatchers, as well as nurses who transitioned from temporary to full-time staff positions, in an effort to […]
Posted inCity Hall, Elections, Housing, San Francisco November 2024 Voter Guide
Proposition G — Fund Housing for Extremely Low-Income Tenants
NEW: Read, and listen to our podcast episode, about how affordability and other issues informing Proposition G affect the lives of San Franciscans, in a story published Nov. 1. See our November 2024 SF Voter Guide for a nonpartisan analysis of measures on the San Francisco ballot, for the election occurring Nov. 5, 2024. The following measure is on […]
Posted inCity Hall, Elections, Open Government, San Francisco November 2024 Voter Guide
Proposition C — New Inspector General Would Fight Local Corruption
See our November 2024 SF Voter Guide for a nonpartisan analysis of measures on the San Francisco ballot, for the election occurring Nov. 5, 2024. The following measure is on that ballot. In the wake of years of FBI probes and ongoing scandals, Proposition C aims to fight corruption in San Francisco by creating a local inspector general […]
Posted inCommunity, Coronavirus, Health
Budget Cuts Threaten SF Food Programs for Seniors and Adults With Disabilities
Funding is drying up for food programs that serve some of San Francisco’s most vulnerable, potentially endangering the health of thousands.
The cuts have come from all levels of government, including from City Hall as it has grappled with the fallout of the pandemic.
Posted inCity Hall, Community, Homelessness, Politics
Homeless Outreach Declines With Street Team’s Shifting Priorities, Staffing Woes
Street outreach by San Francisco’s premier team for helping people living on the streets has fallen for years and could continue dropping.
Years-long staffing woes and shifting work priorities have driven the decline, leaving the team less time for their core mission: building trust with unhoused people and helping them access social services and housing. Homelessness advocates approved of the team’s new efforts to bring people indoors, but worried that officials’ political motives might be influencing these changes.
Posted inHealth, Homelessness, Social Services
You Report an Unhoused Person in a Mental Health Crisis. This Is What Happens Next
In San Francisco, it is not uncommon to cross paths with a person experiencing homelessness in the throes of a mental health crisis. The scene can be tragic, confusing and sometimes might feel dangerous.
Bystanders might wonder how to summon help from the city — and what will happen if they do.
We created a flow chart to answer those questions. We show how cases traverse a tangle of pathways, through handoffs between dispatchers and myriad public workers. The person in crisis might spend days or weeks tumbling through the criminal justice system or health care facilities. Often, they return to where they started: the streets.
Posted inCalifornia, Health, Homelessness, Social Services
The Often Vicious Cycle Through SF’s Strained Mental Health Care and Detention System
Thousands of people last year fell into San Francisco’s complex, reactive, strained system for treating severe mental health and drug-related crises.
To explain how that system works and its effects on the people who enter it, we begin with the story of one man, Jay. As with many others — including those who are unhoused or are detained without their consent following a call from an alarmed observer — Jay had received temporary care, entailing multiple involuntary psychiatric holds, that failed to address his long-term problems. That left him back on the streets to fend for himself or, with the help of passersby, try again to get the aid he needed.
Posted inHomelessness, Housing, Immigration
Proveedores de ervicios opinan que SF subestima la necesidad que hay a pesar de que cada vez más familias migrantes buscan acceder albergues
Los proveedores de servicios han visto un aumento reciente en el número de familias migrantes sin hogar que buscan refugio en San Francisco, y dicen que el sistema de albergues de la ciudad está saturado, y a menudo falla, para recibirlos. Los defensores locales de las personas sin hogar están pidiendo ala alcaldía que satisfaga esta urgente necesidad.