San Francisco Public Press (https://www.sfpublicpress.org/category/homelessness/page/2/)
The lack of fresh water available to homeless people in San Francisco during the COVID-19 pandemic constitutes a “human rights abuse,” a community organizer said as the city’s shelter-in-place orders drag into a second year.
More than 600 people living on San Francisco’s streets could soon get placed in permanent supportive housing.
The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved an emergency ordinance that lifts restrictions on
who can access this type of shelter, which includes services like mental health and substance use treatment and employment assistance.
San Francisco should move people living on the streets to the top of the list for permanent supportive housing, advocates and service providers said Tuesday.
The current system of setting aside all available housing units specifically for homeless people living in shelter-in-place hotels is not proving effective, advocates and city officials said at a hearing of the Board of Supervisors’ Budget and Finance committee.
After an eight-month pause, court-ordered evictions in San Francisco have resumed, and they’re coming down hardest on some of the city’s most vulnerable residents. The Sheriff’s Department has conducted evictions at 33 addresses across the city since November 2020, according to documents obtained through a California Public Records Act request. More than half — 18 — involved tenants in permanent supportive housing.
More than 70 hotel owners have said they are willing to sell their properties to San Francisco, and now is the perfect time to buy some of them, homelessness activists said at a press conference Wednesday.
Nearly one in every 10 of San Francisco’s permanent supportive housing units — earmarked for people experiencing homelessness — is now sitting empty. The number of vacant units has climbed 58% since September and now represents 9.9% of the permanent supportive housing stock.
For its 35th Annual Excellence in Journalism Awards, the Society of Professional Journalists, Northern California chapter, recognized Public Press reporter Brian Howey with an Ongoing Coverage award for his reporting and critique of San Francisco’s systems supporting the homeless during the coronavirus pandemic.
At this year’s SF Urban Film Fest, several programs examining homelessness include activities in which participants will be asked to connect with perfect strangers. In one case, they’ll be prompted to write love notes or put together care packages. Multimedia journalist Yesica Prado and Fay Darmawi, the film festival’s founder and executive director, curated the events and discussed on “Civic” how participants might gain new perspectives on homelessness.
Staff members at the nonprofit service provider Hospitality House have been on the job, in facilities like drop-in centers and working with the public in person, throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Executive Director Joe Wilson told “Civic” he encountered mixed and changing messages when he and his staff tried to determine which of them should get vaccinated, when and how.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will retroactively reimburse states 100% of the cost for shelter-in-place hotels, dating back to January 2020, the White House announced Tuesday.
The announcement comes less than two weeks after the Biden administration pledged to fully fund hotels used to house homeless people over 65 or with compromised health going forward. Previously, municipalities were responsible for 25% of the costs.