San Francisco residents have requested four times the rent assistance City Hall can provide, indicating a widening gap between resident needs and the city’s ability to help. The city is in the process of giving out $7 million to help people cover rent — but it has received more than $28 million in requests from over 6,800 applications since this spring, according to the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development, which is disbursing the money from the Give2SF COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund.
Category: Housing
Posted inBay Area, Driving Home: Surviving the Housing Crisis, Housing
‘Quarantine Diary’ Captures Experience of Living in an RV
Photojournalist Yesica Prado spent the past year examining the culture of vehicle living in San Francisco and Berkeley. Her reporting and photojournalism are featured in “Driving Home: Surviving the Housing Crisis.” Prado created “Quarantine Diary” to show her personal experience living in an RV in Berkeley.
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Bay Area, Housing
Bay Area Housing Group Addresses Community Uncertainty, Finance Questions in Pandemic
When the fallout of the pandemic started to hit Richmond, the affordable housing organization Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services jumped into action, setting up a rapid response fund for families and making its money management and housing education courses virtual. Nikki Beasley, the organization’s executive director, spoke with “Civic” about inequities in housing and wealth in the Bay Area, how to think about financial and housing stability in a time of uncertainty and how crucial homeownership can be to that stability across generations.
Posted inCoronavirus, Housing, Law & Justice
Court Upholds S.F. Eviction Ban
A challenge to San Francisco’s eviction moratorium lost in court Monday. The San Francisco Apartment Association and three co-plaintiffs sued the City and County of San Francisco in June to overturn legislation that took eviction permanently off the table for unpaid rents due during the pandemic. They argued that it was an unconstitutional taking of […]
Posted inCity Hall, Coronavirus, Homelessness, Housing, Social Services
Service Providers Warn Budget Cuts Could Amplify Displacement Wave
San Francisco’s housing and homelessness service providers worry that City Hall’s budget decisions will leave them unprepared to face an expected wave of housing displacement. Interviews with staffers at a dozen nonprofits found that calls for assistance have increased by at least 30% and at some organizations by as much as 200% since March when […]
Posted inCoronavirus, Driving Home: Surviving the Housing Crisis, Homelessness, Housing
In the City, Off the Map: San Franciscans Struggle to Keep Their Mobile Residences
In San Francisco, stringent and widespread parking restrictions are a fact of life. But to the hundreds of city residents who live in their vehicles, these regulations can also be an obstacle to maintaining stability and getting off the streets. Vehicle dwellers play cat-and-mouse with the government’s enforcement apparatus, violating local laws to survive outdoors.
Posted inCoronavirus, Driving Home: Surviving the Housing Crisis, Homelessness, Housing
En la Ciudad, Fuera del Mapa: Los Franciscanos Luchan por Mantener sus Residencias Móviles
En San Francisco, las restricciones de estacionamiento estrictas y generalizadas son una realidad. Pero para los cientos de residentes de la ciudad que viven en sus vehículos, estas regulaciones también pueden ser un obstáculo para mantener la estabilidad y salir de las calles. Los habitantes de los vehículos juegan al gato y al ratón con el gobierno, violando las leyes locales para sobrevivir al aire libre.
Posted inCoronavirus, Driving Home: Surviving the Housing Crisis, Homelessness, Housing
San Franciscans Struggle to Keep Their Mobile Residences
This photo essay accompanies the story “In the City, Off the Map: San Franciscans Struggle to Keep Their Mobile Residences,” which is part of the “Driving Home: Surviving the Housing Crisis” project.
Posted inCoronavirus, Driving Home: Surviving the Housing Crisis, Homelessness, Housing
Los Franciscanos Luchan por Mantener sus Residencias Móviles
Este ensayo fotográfico acompaña a la historia “En la Ciudad, Fuera del Mapa: Los Franciscanos Luchan por Mantener sus Residencias Móviles,” que forma parte del proyecto “Conduciendo a Casa: Sobreviviendo la Crisis de la Vivienda” (Driving Home: Surviving the Housing Crisis).
Posted inCoronavirus, Government & Politics, Homelessness, Housing
Homeless Service Providers Ask City for $43 Million to Handle Pandemic Fallout
As San Francisco leaders look for ways to slash spending in the face of a huge budget shortfall, a coalition of homeless service providers is asking for an increase in funding over the next two fiscal years to address an expected surge in demand due to economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. The 30-plus-member Homeless […]