A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness
My name is Irma.
My name is Irma. I am the mother of three children. I came from Mexico more than ten years ago with the hope of unifying my family for my son. Like many women in Latin America, our husbands come to this country in order to provide us with a better life. But it is very difficult for our children to understand that their parents did not abandon them, they went out to support them,
In 2010, my husband and I succeeded in graduating a drug program and closing our Child Protective Services (CPS) case. Before our case was allowed to close, the courts mandated and assisted our family in acquiring a housing subsidy, which we put to use in the Bayview. At that time, the cost of our two bedroom apartment was $1,800 per month. For four years, we resided there and barely ever saw the property management. But in 2014,
Earlier this year, San Francisco’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) implemented a program known as ‘coordinated entry’ for homeless family shelter, which prioritizes families trying to get stable shelter based on where they are staying at time of requesting shelter. A coordinated entry program, per federal law, should be low-barrier, fair access, inclusive, housing first, and full coverage, but advocates and providers for the homeless, such as Homeless Emergency Service Providers Association (HESPA),
For the more than 7,000 people living on San Francisco’s streets, there are very few bathrooms and showers available. While homeless folks would like to shower and relieve themselves, the reality is that there are few facilities. Dignified, safe hygiene facilities are a human right, regardless of housing status. Homeless people share why San Francisco needs to start providing more public bathrooms and showers now.
Where can you get a shower for no cost for a job interview? … READ MORE
In an unprecedented act of disrespect, the Right To Rest Act HB – 215 will not get a chance for a hearing in Oregon this year.
In spite of an unprecedented seven co-sponsors, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Representative Jeff Barker refused to schedule House Bill 2215 for a hearing in the assembly Judiciary Committee, prior to the deadline for a vote.
“We should not be criminalizing basic human activities like resting,
On a sunny Saturday afternoon we gathered in an alley under a freeway overpass to celebrate the life of Neil Taylor,a homeless veteran who is remembered for his skill as a pianist and for always taking care of his community, and others who have recently died on our streets.
As we were setting up a woman who lives in a nearby encampment curiously asked me what we were setting up for.
I grew up in a San Fernando Valley suburb, Woodland Hills, California. I left home at the age of thirteen casting off a depressing and painful environment. I had the fortune to receive a scholarship to one of Princeton University’s first female classes, class of 1977. I studied psychology. When I graduated, I worked with autistic kids in San Francisco at Burt Children’s Center. One child became verbal after we bonded. His parents were angry because they assumed he had been able to talk.
Over and over again, we’re told the City shouldn’t have more affordable housing, shelters, food pantries, or other services for low-income and homeless folks because we spend so much money on them already. We hear that $241 million spent annually is not getting the job done so we should stop spending more. Some people truly believe our City leaders are invested and committed to ending homelessness in San Francisco. While the budget is essential to ending homelessness amongst our seniors,
One of the biggest challenges the more than 7,000 homeless people in San Francisco face every day is finding somewhere to use the restroom. It’s something that homeless people are often demonized for, without giving much thought to the resources available to them: People want to use bathrooms, but are forced to go on the streets because there are so few restrooms available to them.
“Access to a bathroom to hygiene facilities is something with we often associate with developing countries,” Jennifer Friedenbach,
