The last year has proven dire for unhoused people in San Francisco. COVID-19 has ravaged communities, particularly those who face homelessness. While the city claims to protect the most vulnerable, it is evident that the priorities of San Francisco, and of the United States, do not lie with its people. Amidst a global pandemic, neoliberal governance has only exacerbated wealth inequality and hardship for those on the streets. As gentrification in San Francisco expands, and homelessness continues to be criminalized,
The Beat Of The Street
What has changed for unhoused San Franciscans in the last year, and what hasn’t
This last year of the COVID-19 pandemic has been hard. There has been a lot to adjust to, because there are not very many positive resources in San Francisco due to our City leaders and how our mayor is running things.
One thing that has changed in a negative way is that the City has been very hands-off when it comes to addressing homelessness.
How the COVID-19 Pandemic has Affected Sex Workers
How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected sex workers? I know this question is not on the minds of most people here in San Francisco, or anywhere else. We should all already know this, as well as in understanding the pandemic’s the effects on communities of elders, migrants, folks who are disabled, Black, Asian, trans, poor, living and working on the streets, and anyone marginalized and disadvantaged by the cis-hetero-patriarchal-capitalist system. That is to say, we need to be seeing each other and supporting each other,
The Year in Review: San Francisco allowed sanctioned tent encampments on city land
When San Francisco’s COVID-19 health order was released in March 2020, requiring residents to shelter-in-place, it included one paragraph specifically exempting those experiencing homelessness. Immediately, that paragraph raised a question: How could someone without access to shelter protect themselves from the deadly virus? The Centers for Disease Control issued guidance that tents could provide an important barrier between neighbors to prevent the virus’s spread. Hundreds of tents were donated and distributed by community organizations.
Police Won’t End Anti-Asian Violence. Community Will.
We cannot conflate police and incarceration with justice or public safety
Read more on twitter @samklew
Every day, I see the small bouquets of flowers in front of the apartment. Daisies, pink roses, sunflowers wrapped in beautiful blue fabric. Still there, a week and a half after Vicha Ratanapakdee passed away.
During an early morning stroll in a quiet neighborhood in San Francisco, the 84-year-old grandfather from Thailand was violently pushed to the ground.
A Return to the Misery of Poverty Tows?
After months of moratorium on poverty tows, San Francisco may soon fall back on the inequitable practice.
As the map pictured here makes brutally clear, the towing practices of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) are highly inequitable and disproportionately target San Francisco’s low-income communities of color living in the Bayview and Tenderloin. Welcome to the reality of poverty tows!
There are three types of poverty tows: tows for five or more unpaid parking tickets,
Glide to Host COVID Vaccinations in Tenderloin
Unhoused San Franciscans in the Tenderloin will now have access to the COVID-19 vaccine, thanks to a successful pilot program at Glide, the neighborhood nonprofit announced.
Glide’s website said that the March 25 pilot will lead to a weekly clinic on Thursdays as part of the Tenderloin Community Resource Hub.
“It will be a pop-up, but the hope is [it will] be a recurring one — like the COVID testing site at Glide now,” Glide communications director Robert Avila said in response to a query from Street Sheet.
A Shot in the Arm for Homeless San Franciscans?
Where homeless people fit in the Golden State’s plans to vaccinate residents against COVID-19 has been in flux for the past month. San Francisco officials — as well as houseless San Franciscans — might have to wait longer than expected for things to fall into place.
Last month, the state reorganized the phases of its prioritization plan to immunize Californians. Health care workers — the highest prioritized group in the plan — had already started receiving vaccinations.
Una Madre Habla en Contra del Desajolo / A Mother Speaks Out Against Eviction
(Scroll down for English translation)
Mi nombre es M. O., inmigrante de Guatemala y llegue a los Estados Unidos en 1988.
Salí de mi país que se guatela por la situación económica, lo cual sobrevive día con día, los trabajos son escasos y pagan muy poco. Como sabemos que los EEUU ha quitado muchas riquezas de nuestro País. Como también sabemos que nuestros presidentes de nuestro país que ellos se enriquecen robando al pueblo y ellos haciendo más ricos y el pueblo se vuelve más pobre.
A Letter from Washoe County Detention Facility
My name is Ricky Zepeda. I am 44 years old. At the moment I find myself in a dilemma. My dilemma involves the law out here in Reno, Nevada, something I am sure some of you reading this can relate to. I have a lot of other personal issues I’m going through, but we’ll get into that much later.
Since we are fortunate to have this platform in Street Sheet, I want to take this time to attempt to drive some of you readers in a positive direction.
