A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness
Jay* entered a room he described as “dull, with fluorescent flickering lights” that continued to aggravate him, part of the reason why he was 5150’d in the first place. Persons who are deemed a danger to themselves (by the way of intense self-harm or suicidal ideation), a danger to others, and/or are gravely disabled may be involuntarily confined to psychiatric emergency services for up to 72 hours for stabilization. Police officers,
Since 2015, homelessness in San Francisco has decreased one percent. According to San Francisco’s just-released 2017 Point in Time Count, there are 7,499 homeless San Franciscans—down just 40 people since the previous 2015 count.
More than half of this homeless population is unsheltered. San Francisco’s adult shelter wait list has consistently been over 1,000 people since last year, leaving people to sleep in their cars, streets, parks, and abandoned buildings.
Marginalized communities were disproportionately represented in the homeless population.
For many of us already engaged in the fight for justice, safety and equity for TLGB people, this past November’s election signaled a major setback in our work. Throughout the Obama administration, we saw the ways that the work we have done in our communities truly could impact the federal government’s policies. Over the past several months, TLGB people’s fear has grown as Trump’s platform of homophobic and transphobic policy, increased incarceration, increased military spending,
In 1966, a police raid on Gene Compton’s, an after-hours cafeteria here in the Tenderloin lit a fuse and the LGBTQ+ world exploded in a riotous battle over space and survival. Pushed to the margins of society by segregation within the LGBT community, anti-gay laws, and the constant threat of violence, transgender women fought back against the officers with what was at their fingertips: coffee, trays, and chairs. Their brave resistance set the stage for the Stonewall Riots and fed the flame of a growing Gay Liberation movement.
The Mayor’s proposed budget allocates less than 2.5% of funding for the Dept. of Homelessness
Three months ago, a team of homeless service providers sent to the City a proposal for housing San Francisco residents without a home and keeping others housed.
On June 1, Mayor Ed Lee replied. The response was essentially, “yes to some, no to others.”
As reported in the last issue of Street Sheet,
Senior Daniel McHugh won’t be getting fined for eating at a bus stop.
It’s a citation that most have never heard of: Under California’s criminal code, eating at a bus shelter is illegal and can produce a fine of up to $250. McHugh, who was sharing a slice of pizza with a friend for her birthday, was cited by a San Francisco police officer in early March while waiting for the bus on Market and Seventh streets and fined $234.
For the past five and one half years, I have been a Shelter Client Advocate. The San Francisco Shelter Grievance Policy states that Shelter Client Advocates “monitor shelter conditions and the application of shelter rules, act as informal conflict resolvers between shelters and their clients, and assist clients in appealing denials of service.” And for four years prior to this, I worked in a family shelter in the City.
Over this nine and a half years,
350 Jones St. has a small and unassuming storefront, with a small door sandwiched between two glass display window. Inside, a small room is lined with metal shelves piled high with bulging black garbage bags. In fact, on any given day, you can find over 320 of those black garbage bags at 350 Jones.
Run by the Providence Foundation of San Francisco, the barely 700 square foot room is the only free storage space for more than 7,000 homeless people in San Francisco.
My nickname is Action Jackson because I like action. I was born in Oakland, CA. I had eight brothers and five sisters. I learned how to hustle at the early age of 5. I learned how to go talk for money. My mother couldn’t keep track of all the kids. I went to school at Oakland Tech High School, and then I quit high school and I started hustling pool at 16 and it took me all around the U.S.,
If you’re a regular reader of Street Sheet by Coalition on Homelessness, you might be surprised to hear that the paper’s recent upgrades — full color front pages and a new website — were sponsored by the same people who brought you AirBnB: Silicon Valley’s preeminent startup incubator, Y Combinator.
But donating to the Coalition on Homelessness was definitely not Y Combinator’s idea. They were compelled to give a $20,000 donation to an organization that actively helps homeless and low income people,
