Category: Homelessness
Posted inHealth, Homelessness, Labor

Arrested UC Workers Released, Charged with Disrupting Public Meetings with Labor Protest 

Avatar photo by Madison Alvarado

More than 20 labor leaders and University of California workers were arrested May 15 as they protested at a UC Board of Regents meeting at UC San Francisco’s Mission Bay campus. They were charged with willfully disturbing a meeting. 

Demonstrators, who were protesting working conditions and calling for the university to engage in fair contract negotiations, were released after a few hours, said Liz Perlman, executive director of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees 3299 , which represents 35,000 employees across several UC campuses, medical centers, clinics and research labs. Perlman, who was arrested, said she was given a citation with a follow-up court date.

Posted inCity Hall, Homelessness, Housing, Law & Justice

Eviction Rates in SF Soar as Legal Aid Faces Deep Funding Cuts

Avatar photo by Sylvie Sturm

San Francisco is experiencing a surge in eviction court filings that has taken even the most seasoned eviction defense lawyers by surprise.

In February, 365 eviction lawsuits were filed — up 57% from a year earlier — and March had 303 filings, bringing the total for this year to 929.

At this pace, San Francisco is on track to seeing more than 3,700 eviction lawsuits this year, versus 2,923 cases filed in 2024, according to the Tenant Right to Counsel, which was established in 2018, when San Francisco passed the “No Eviction Without Representation Act,” requiring the city to fund legal representation for residents facing eviction.

Posted in“Civic” Podcast, City Hall, Homelessness, Law & Justice, Public Safety, Social Services

Visible Progress or Political Theater? Factions Disagree on How to Clean Up Street Conditions

Avatar photo by Sylvie Sturm

In February, the San Francisco Police Department converted a Sixth Street parking lot in South of Market to what it called a triage center — a fenced-off area where police could connect people to social services or put them in a van bound for jail.

According to a city staff report, in the first month of the triage center’s operation, police made 350 arrests, three-quarters of them drug related. Triage personnel connected 275 people to shelter and 408 people to health care.

Advocates for people struggling with homelessness or substance use disorder say the city’s approach is unnecessarily punitive, but some business owners and community members say they approve of what the mayor and Police Department are doing.

Posted inGovernment & Politics, Homelessness, Housing, Immigration, Law & Justice

‘They’ll All Be Homeless’

Avatar photo by Sylvie Sturm

San Francisco should brace for a surge in homelessness.

That was the assessment of local housing advocates following a Department of Housing and Urban Development announcement that it would “take steps” to ensure no funding would be used to “support sanctuary policies of states or local governments that actively prevent federal authorities from deporting” undocumented residents.

On Friday, HUD Secretary Scott Turner issued a letter informing the department’s grantees and stakeholders of his plans to comply with an executive order titled “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders,” signed by President Trump Feb. 19.

San Francisco adopted its sanctuary city policy in 1989. It prohibits city staff and police from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement unless required to do so by federal or state law.

Posted inBay Area, City Hall, Homelessness

Advocates Fear Fremont’s New Homelessness Ordinance Will Force Domestic Violence Victims to Stay With Abusers

by Viji Sundaram

With Fremont passing an ordinance that many say is one of the nation’s most stringent on homelessness, advocates for domestic violence survivors say the tough law criminalizes vulnerable community members — and advocates are concerned that they themselves could be punished for helping to those living in cars or encampments.

Posted inGovernment & Politics, Homelessness

SF Fails to Produce Evidence It Follows Encampment Clearing Policy

Avatar photo by Madison Alvarado

San Francisco cannot prove it follows an aspect of its encampment clearing policy intended to help people retain essential belongings. Despite 588 clearings from January to mid-November, the city lacks evidence of a single signed declaration that staff advised unhoused people to separate essentials from property it was confiscating.

Posted inCommunity, Elections, Homelessness, Housing, Neighborhoods, Politics

Politics Didn’t Matter to Him When He Was Homeless. Now He Organizes His Neighbors.

Avatar photo by Madison Alvarado

Solomon Bukenya, a formerly unhoused San Franciscan, has never lost hope for long — surviving a genocide in Rwanda, the loss of his leg, addiction and homelessness. Though he had no interest in civic engagement for years, today he’s on a mission to make sure his community’s voices are heard. Even after a tumultuous election, he remains undeterred.

Posted inElections, Homelessness

Encampment Sweeps’ Uptick May Hurt Homeless People’s Access to Services, Voting

Avatar photo by Madison Alvarado

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.

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