San Francisco Public Press (https://www.sfpublicpress.org/series/homelessness/)
San Francisco has begun rolling out a new technology platform that officials say will better help the homeless population by giving priority for shelter and housing to those with the greatest need. But the ONE System also functions as a form of rationing of scarce affordable housing.
City native Victoria Ortiz’s path to homelessness began in the East Bay more than two years ago when she was pregnant, working at a Staples and subletting a room. A housemate stopped forwarding the rent to the landlord, and everyone was evicted. This is the story of her determination to find stable housing for her family while living at a shelter in San Francisco.
Last week on his blog, Beyond Chron, Tenderloin Housing Clinic Executive Director Randy Shaw belatedly referred to my Fall 2017 Public Press cover story about vacancies in single-room occupancy hotels as “extremely misleading” and “false.” I was disappointed, but not surprised. And I am not alone.
A San Francisco initiative to help homeless families find affordable apartments and assist them in paying the rent is sending the majority of them out of the city because of the high cost and shortage of housing.
Last year, Portland lawmakers approved a surtax on companies with high CEO-to-worker pay ratios and dedicated the revenue to homeless services. Will the San Francisco Board of Supervisors follow suit?
San Francisco has the highest percentage of unsheltered youths in the nation — more than 1,200 between 18 and 24 years old, at last count. Host homes could get many off the streets. Would you welcome a homeless youth into your home?
Efforts to end youth homeless began in earnest in 1974, when Congress passed legislation that changed the national approach to helping at-risk youths.
Studies have found that the 1811 Eastlake project in Seattle helps keep alcoholics off the streets and out of jails and emergency rooms — and even helps them drink less.
On the outskirts of Traverse City, Michigan, Dann’s House provides supportive housing to eight alcoholic homeless men. Unlike most housing for the homeless, there’s no expectation that residents will stop drinking, even on-site. But their consumption is down, and their lives improved.
Since their debut seven years ago, “social impact bonds” have generated $200 million in the United States and 14 other countries toward programs to reduce homelessness and related social problems. San Jose has already tapped into this new funding source, and San Francisco may in the future.
