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.
An escalation in encampment clearings could be leaving unhoused San Franciscans with fewer of their vital documents, making them less able to access services and, this month, vote, service providers and homeless advocates say.
In light of reports of these worsening problems, the city’s Homeless Oversight Commission has urged local government agencies to prevent the loss of essential items.
Many older adults living on fixed incomes in San Francisco teeter on the brink of homelessness. After rent, they have little money for other essentials.
Proposition G could keep some of those people off the streets by reducing rents in hundreds of already-subsidized units, putting them within reach for extremely low-income seniors and other groups.
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.
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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.
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.
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.
