A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness
by Jordan Wasilewski
On Saturday, December 20, as I was preparing to go to punk and black metal shows in the East Bay, my power went out, along with about 130,000 of my fellow San Franciscans’. PG&E’s substation at Eighth and Mission streets had a huge fire thanks to the utility company’s deferred maintenance. While we technically have public power, PG&E still owns the infrastructure, and public power advocates have long demanded that the City take it over.
by Jordan Wasilewski
As of mid-October this year, I have been stably housed in San Francisco for 10 years. For the first time in my adult life, I became a tenant with my name on the lease and am living alone, instead of subletting with others.
That was also my 10th anniversary in permanent supportive housing, my 10th anniversary in a single-resident occupancy hotel, and also my 10th anniversary of permanent supportive housing and SRO activism.
by Jordan Wasilewski
I am a millenial, and one of the defining moments of my generation was 9/11. There are many takes on this issue, but one thing I gleaned from the aftermath is that, despite the supposed “unity” that crises bring, there are people out there who will weaponize collective pain to push policies that are wrongheaded and cruel. I find the same holds true for San Francisco’s overdose crisis.
by Jordan Wasilewski
On September 2, the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) sent its report on evictions from Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH), as required by City law. For background, the ordinance requiring annual reports was pushed by then-Supervisor Mark Farrell in 2015 with little stakeholder engagement.
The report indicates the number of written notices (notifications of a landlord’s intent to initiate eviction process),
by Kenyota
The need for stable housing is of utmost importance to the unhoused because with it they have a basic human need met: the need for safety. San Francisco’s city leaders and its citizens have demonstrated a great empathy to a large number of its homeless population by providing affordable housing in the form of single room occupancies (SROs). Nonprofit property management agencies, under city contracts, oversee housing placement and management of these SROs located in the Tenderloin.
by Jordan Wasilewski
In May, Mission Local broke the story that 835 Turk St., a new permanent supportive housing complex that I vocally supported in early 2022 will have to undergo extensive repairs which will require tenants to (supposedly) temporarily move out. The article, which has been the only to cover this story so far, focused heavily on how tenants rightfully distrust the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) to ensure a just transition and a right of return once the building’s rehab is completed.
by Jordan Wasilewski
I am no fan of my new supervisor, Bilal Mahmood, whom I think cares more for his wealthier constituents in his district than Tenderloin residents. He just proposed legislation that affirms my viewpoint.
In May, he introduced an ordinance that would require the City to approve new health and homeless facilities in each supervisorial district by June 30, 2026. Those facilities would include new homeless shelters,
by Jordan Davis
Today, Housing First is facing so many threats, but I remember it having broad-based support when I came of age in the 2000s during the administration of George W. Bush. I grew up in a working class Democratic family who hated “Dubya,” and I frequently protested the Iraq war, Bush’s anti-environmental policies, and his overall political platform. I also do not like the recent nostalgia for the Bushes and Cheneys from Democrats in the face of Trump.
by Jordan Davis
Lately, a surprising subject has been coming up at tenant meetings of the Central City SRO Collaborative, one that’s near and dear to my heart: Grab bars in showers.
A tenant organizer at the collaborative has been encouraging tenants to fill out forms requesting grab bars in their single-resident occupancy (SRO) hotels and persuade their doctors to write them a note requesting reasonable accommodation.
It took a tremendous push over several years to reach this point..
by Jordan Davis
Dear Mayor Lurie,
Congratulations on winning the mayor’s race. I certainly did not vote for you or anyone else for mayor, because I believe San Francisco’s strong mayor system needs to be scuttled. However, as you are now in office, there are some things you should know.
I know that you want to focus on shelters as a homelessness response.
