The same day tenant advocates in San Francisco organized a car caravan demonstration calling for the cancellation of rent, two homeless women, Couper Orona and Jess Gonzalez, briefly occupied a long-vacant home in the Castro before police removed them.
Category: Homelessness
Posted inHomelessness, Housing
Two Squatters Occupy Vacant S.F. Home to Protest Housing Policies for Homeless
Two homeless women staged an occupation of a vacant single-family home Friday in the Castro in a move aimed at drawing more attention to their demand that the city move more quickly to shelter homeless people during the COVID-19 pandemic. They hung banners outside with messages such as “End homelessness, reclaim San Francisco” and “Housing is a human right” and attracted protesters and neighbors supporting the action before leaving several hours later after negotiations with police.
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Coronavirus, Homelessness
Service Provider: Homeless Are Always ‘Last in Line’ for Help
Among the most exposed and often vulnerable to the coronavirus pandemic are people who don’t have a place of shelter. Joe Wilson, executive director of Hospitality House, a nonprofit that offers a variety of services from employment guidance to emergency shelter, said the city seems to be waiting for people to get sick before intervening.
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, City Hall, Economy & Business, Health, Homelessness
S.F. Offers Hotel Rooms for Local Homeless, Not Newcomers, Breed Says
As San Francisco officials worked to expand housing options for the homeless, city leaders warned that anyone from outside San Francisco seeking a hotel room or other shelter would be turned away to preserve resources for those who were homeless within city limits before the pandemic hit.
Posted inCoronavirus, Homelessness, Housing
City Kills Plan for Mass Coronavirus Testing in S.F. Homeless Shelters
San Francisco turned down a research startup’s offer to test all of the city’s homeless shelter residents for COVID-19, urging the firm to divert its resources to other populations, according to emails. Shelter leaders and organizers had lined up doctors and volunteers to perform the testing, and the startup had drafted a letter of understanding, when the city pulled the plug on the plan.
Posted inCity Hall, Coronavirus, Homelessness
S.F. Supervisors Support Tent Camps – Some, Even Post-Pandemic
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is throwing its full support behind the idea of approved tent camps for homeless people to try to prevent the spread of COVID-19. And some say they want the encampments to stick around even after the pandemic passes.
Posted inCoronavirus, Homelessness
City Outlines Plan to Move Homeless Into RVs
Vulnerable homeless people will finally start moving into recreational vehicles and live-in trailers in mid- to late May as part of a plan to curb the spread of the coronavirus that San Francisco officials announced Friday. The vehicles, including RVs that have been sitting empty for more than a month, would be stationed near the Bayview.
Posted inCity Hall, Coronavirus, Education, Homelessness
Leader Urges School District to Host Tent Camp
The president of the San Francisco Unified School District board plans to propose next week that the district offer at least one of its campuses as one of the city’s first-ever approved tent camps for homeless people.
Posted inCoronavirus, Homelessness
Shelter Ejects Clients for Violating New Coronavirus-Related Restrictions
A homeless shelter in the Tenderloin has ejected at least two residents for violating a new coronavirus-related policy that bars inhabitants from leaving for more than two hours at a time, according to a tenant advocacy group. The move drew criticism from directors of two other shelters and an advocate for shelter residents.
Posted inCoronavirus, Homelessness
Approved Tent Camps for Social Distancing Get Thumbs-Up in Report
Approved tent camps can help homeless people socially distance when they can’t stay in hotel rooms or other single-occupancy housing, UC Berkeley researchers said. The report bolsters a resolution introduced Tuesday by San Francisco Supervisor Rafael Mandelman urging the city to support sanctioned encampments at up to five public sites