The wait time for an emergency shelter bed for homeless San Franciscans has hit a record high, as growing demand outstrips availability, city records show. Among those waiting weeks on the list recently were someone 97 years old and three people in their 80s.
Category: Homelessness
Posted inCity Hall, Community, Homelessness, Housing, Media, Navigating Homelessness: Which Way Home?, Transportation
More Homeless Returning to Streets From Navigation Centers
Two years after the city launched its navigation centers, fewer than a quarter of the nearly 1,200 people who have passed through have been placed in verified long-term housing, and more are returning to the streets, an analysis of city records shows. The most common outcome is a one-way bus ticket to another city.
Posted inFrom the Newsroom, Navigating Homelessness: Which Way Home?, News
From the Editors: A City in Flux
In the Summer 2017 issue of the San Francico Public Press, we examine the city’s efforts to help homeless people through initiatives in place for years and ones that are expanding under the new Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. Some are experimental, which can be challenging for the people seeking services and for those trying to administer them while working out policy kinks.
Posted inHomelessness, Housing, Social Services
How Pacific Northwest Cities Have Made Space for Homeless Encampments
San Francisco officials have been skeptical of sanctioning homeless encampments as transitional housing, but local activists note that the model has a long track record in Seattle, Portland and Eugene, Ore.
Posted inCommunity, Elections, Homelessness, News, Social Services
Lack of Shelter for Homeless Collides With Voters’ Wish to Clear Tent Encampments
San Francisco voters narrowly passed Proposition Q, creating new policies for how the city clears tent encampments where homeless people live. But that law may be a nonstarter, because there is virtually no indoor shelter available to get tent dwellers off city streets.
Posted in2016 Non-partisan Voter Guide, Arts & Culture, Elections, Homelessness
Proposition S: Paying for the Arts and Homeless Services with S.F. Hotel Tax
This ordinance would shift some of the city’s spending specifically to the arts and homeless services.
The initiative was placed on the ballot through verified petition signatures.
Posted in2016 Non-partisan Voter Guide, Elections, Homelessness
Proposition Q: Outlawing Tent Encampments on Sidewalks
This ordinance would make it illegal for people to pitch tents or similar shelters on city sidewalks.
This measure was placed on the ballot by Supervisors Malia Cohen, Mark Farrell, Katy Tang and Scott Wiener.
Posted in2016 Non-partisan Voter Guide, Elections, Homelessness, Transportation
Proposition J: Creating Funds for Homeless Services, Transportation
This Charter amendment would lock City Hall into annual spending on services for homeless people, and on public transit maintenance and upgrades.
The Board of Supervisors voted 8-3 to put this initiative on the ballot.
Posted inHomelessness, Media
Change of Address: Voices Humanize Homelessness
The San Francisco Public Press and Sonic SF present a collection of eight audio portraits giving voice to people who are — or are on the verge of becoming — homeless.
Posted inBay Area, Community, Education, Health, Homelessness, Housing, Labor, Media, Public Safety, Social Justice, Social Services
How Media Coverage on Homelessness Falls Short (And What Reporters Can Do About It)
In many newsrooms, “the homeless” is a well-worn catchphrase for the often-anonymous people on the street or in shelters. But many professionals who work with these populations on a daily basis find the term offensive and misleading.