Street Sheet responds to your questions about the San Francisco shelter system!
Shelter Questions, Answered
Black San Franciscans will Become History Unless We Stop Displacing Them
by Olivia Glowacki
Black people make up less than 6 percent of San Francisco’s general population and 34 percent of the city’s homeless population, according to the 2017 San Francisco Homeless Count & Survey. Other sources put the percentage of homeless families who are Black at 50 percent and this number has been on the rise since the 1980s. While gentrification and greed grow, San Franciscans who were born, raised, and now raise their children here,
LIMBO AT THE DROP-IN
by TJ Johnston
It’s 4 p.m. and I’ve been waiting two hours already to get a seat at the MSC South drop-in. I spent the last two hours outside waiting in line with about 10 or 12 other homeless people ahead of me — that is, if nobody cuts ahead.
I want to get a bed for the night, and the only things standing between me and that bed are the gate at the entrance,
$88.5 MILLION FOR HOMELESS HOUSING AND SERVICES LEAVES OUT FUNDING FOR HOMELESS FAMILIES, YOUTH
On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to approve a spending deal that will fund upwards of $200 million for salary raises for public school teachers and childcare providers as well as affordable housing and homeless services.
The funds originate from the Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund (ERAF). Established in 1992 by the state of California, the fund essentially takes away money from counties in the form of property taxes to be used for school districts,
No Shelter from the Storm
by Brian Edwards
“During the first heavy storm of February, a really sweet older gentleman who sells the Street Sheet rang the bell to our office. When I opened the door, I could barely recognize him. He was shaking, soaking wet, and couldn’t even walk up the stairs without my help. His hands, bone white and shriveled from the rain, shook so badly that it was nearly impossible for him to drink the hot tea we’d given him.
