Hotel Whitcomb, the Last Resort in SF’s Homeless Hotel Program, is Closing

by TJ Johnston

The program accommodating unhoused San Franciscans during the COVID-19 pandemic is scheduled to end in mid-December with the shuttering of the Hotel Whitcomb, according to the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH).

The Whitcomb has become the last remaining safe harbor for homeless people in its final days of participating in the shelter-in-place (SIP) hotel program. Since the program began during the pandemic’s early days in April 2020, the Whitcomb has been one of 25 sites that provide a place to stay for people who would otherwise have no roof over their heads at the onset of a global public health emergency.

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City Continues to Close Shelter-in-Place Hotels

by Quiver Watts

A ‘Return to Normal’ in Abnormal Times

Wastewater testing is showing that San Francisco is currently experiencing perhaps the biggest COVID-19 surge yet, at the same time as the monkeypox virus is sweeping the country. With mask mandates gone and eviction protections being rolled back, the City seems set on a return to normal in the most abnormal of times. 

Against this backdrop, the City is shutting down shelter-in-place (SIP) hotels,

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After Permanent Housing Added, Shelter Legislation Moves Forward

by TJ Johnston

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman’s shelter legislation is going to the full Board of Supervisors after the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee approved it on a 3-0 vote on May 26.

After several amendments through two committee meetings in May, one thing is for sure: Mandelman’s “Place for All Ordinance” is now a different animal from the legislation he introduced two months before with its primary focus on shelter softened as it moves to the full board on June 7.   

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Early SF Homeless Numbers Down — Shelter-in-place Hotels, Prop. C Cited as Factors

by TJ Johnston

San Francisco got a sneak peek last month of the results from its 2022 homeless point-in-time count, which showed a drop in some kinds of homelessness. Advocates say directing public money into certain programs played a key role.

The count indicated a significant drop in the number of unsheltered homeless people and chronically homeless people, as well as a large bump in the number of people staying in shelters and transitional housing.

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Why Mandelman’s Shelter Expansion Plan Doesn’t Fall into Place

by Sara Shortt

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman has been trying hard to get houseless people off the streets. But judging by his new bill, his definition of getting people off the streets does not mean getting them into housing. 

For the second time in two years he is proposing legislation to the Board of Supervisors, where it will be heard first at the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee on May 12. If it passes, it would put people into temporary shelter: a tent in a sanctioned camp,

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Side Notes

by Lisa D.

The manner in which the hours of freedom.. 

are spent determines, no less than labor or war, the moral worth of a nation.” 

— Maurice Maeterlinck 

Little Miss Muffet

Sat on her tuffet

Smoking a bowl in the dark

Along came a ranger, 

Took her weed and detained her 

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Advocates Fight to Codify Shelter Grievance Policy

by Ben Baczkowski and Quiver Watts

On April 7, members of the Board of Supervisors  Government Audit and Oversight Committee considered whether to codify the Shelter Grievance Policy—a critical protection for homeless San Franciscans—in the City’s Administrative Code. Dozens of advocates turned out to make their voices heard in favor of the proposal, and the committee voted to send the proposal to the Board of Supervisors for a full vote. Given that six supervisors have joined Shamann Walton in sponsoring the legislation,

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How Muni Saved My Life

by Kurt Schwartzmann

The author originally told this story before an audience in San Francisco as part of an evening of performance and storytelling sponsored by Tipping Point Community on November 18, 2021 at Manny’s, 3092 16th St. San Francisco. This story has been adapted and edited for your reading pleasure, and hopefully, inspiration.

I think of the places I’ve slept in in my life – buses, trains,

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A Life I Never Dreamt of Living

by Anonymous

From Gender-Based Violence to Homelessness

San Francisco, The Bay Area, my home. My well-furnished house that I felt I would never leave, not even in my worst thoughts. Little did I know this comfort of having a nice home, family and even cars would be short-lived. In October of 2013, I got married to my sweetheart—let’s call him Michael for privacy reasons. I was filled with happiness and expectations of a long-term marriage. Months later,

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Trying to Make It in America

by anonymous
A rooster stands atop a skull wearing a hat that reads "ICE", with handcuffs lying beside it. The image is framed by cacti and a scorpion.

Content warning: The stories throughout this issue may be especially activating for some readers. Many of these pieces involve descriptions of traumatic experiences including sexual violence, domestic violence, sexual exploitation, queer/transphobic violence, in addition to the violence of states and false borders.

I am an immigrant from Malawi, and I have lived in San Francisco for the last ten years. I came to the United States for a wedding and afterwards I decided to stay and try to make it in America.

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