Demand among homeless San Franciscans for the 40 slots the city is making available in its Haight-Ashbury safe camping site has outstripped supply, even as more than 1,000 hotel rooms and trailers meant for vulnerable residents sit empty. Around 60 people have requested to stay at the site, which has space for only 40 tents, said Mary Howe, director of the Homeless Youth Alliance.
Tag: COVID-19
Posted inCity Hall, Coronavirus, Government & Politics
S.F. Mayor Imposes Curfew After Unrest
Beginning today, San Francisco officials will be enforcing an 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily curfew. Mayor London Breed announced the curfew, and said the National Guard was standing by, Saturday night after unrest broke out in the city’s downtown area.
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Coronavirus, Education
Students Critique, Suggest Improvements for Distance Learning in S.F.
The San Francisco Unified School District has announced that fall classes will begin on Aug. 17, and administrators are in the process of planning how campuses will function as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. They are challenged with figuring out how to keep students safe and make classes engaging whether they are held remotely or in modified classroom settings. We heard directly from students about what life has been like for them under the shelter-in-place order.
Posted inNews
S.F. Spent Estimated $500,000 on Unused RVs Meant for Homeless
Twenty-nine recreational vehicles leased by San Francisco to house homeless residents during the pandemic were never used for their intended purpose, an endeavor that may have cost the city as much as half a million dollars, a city official confirmed.
Posted inEducation
Historic Unemployment Leaves College Students Fighting for Jobs, Futures
Instead of celebrating milestones as they prepare to enter what a few months ago was the best job market in half a century, college students throughout the Bay Area are worrying about their futures as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the historic wave of unemployment it has unleashed.
Posted inEducation, Homelessness
School Doubles as Home for Some S.F. Students
The San Francisco school district’s Stay Over Program has played a major role in sheltering homeless students and their families and helping them move to more stable situations since the shelter-in-place rules were implemented. Service providers worry they may be joined in a few months by many more newly homeless students as job losses mount and more families get evicted.
Posted inHomelessness
43% of Emergency Hygiene Facilities for S.F. Homeless Lack Essentials
UPDATE 5/20/2020: Adds link to city website showing some open park restrooms in eighth paragraph of “Hygiene” section. More than four in every 10 emergency hygiene facilities the city has set up during the COVID-19 pandemic to serve homeless people lack at least one element essential to handwashing, the Public Press found. A third of […]
Posted inNews
Sunshine Board May Return to Keeping an Eye on City Hall
One of the key panels maintaining local government accountability will soon get back to work after being sidelined for months if the head of the Board of Supervisors gets his way. The Sunshine Ordinance Task Force has not met since Mayor London Breed suspended most public meetings in mid-March, but board President Norman Yee aims to change that.
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, News
Media Focus on Trump Misinformation Distracts From Serious Pandemic Coverage — ‘News in Context’
As we seek out relevant and reliable information on COVID-19, we are also exposed to misinformation, opinion and mixed messages from our leaders. We rely on journalists to give us timely fact-based reporting about all aspects of this developing story — to help us navigate the onslaught and contextualize, not editorialize or spin.
Posted inEconomy & Business
S.F. Businesses to Reopen if COVID-19 Hospitalization Rate Does Not Rise
Some nonessential businesses might be able to resume limited operations starting May 18.