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.
These nonprofits not only provide stable housing for the city’s low-income residents, such as myself, They provide a number of resources such as employment opportunities, resume development, job training referrals and individual case management to determine the specific needs of the residents.
Two organizations that are tasked with serving SRO tenants illustrate what SROs do wrong and right.
The Vincent Hotel, an SRO managed by the Tenderloin Housing Clinic and where I live, provides an example of the positive impact these SROs can have in residents’ lives.. Some of its residents have become full-time employees with the clinic in the form of custodians, front desk clerks, and case managers.
At the same time, staff’s apathy towards residents and a high turnover rate have hampered some agencies’ effectiveness in offering resources designed to elevate its renters into self-sufficiency. This fact is demonstrated vividly in the case of the Vincent. Custodians rarely clean the hotel throughout their shifts, a number of the front desk clerks are rude and hostile to its residents and case managers spend more time on the phone than with its clients. There is a grievance process, which is a good system in theory, but residents fear retaliation if they pursue. This has created an environment that closely resembles the cities’ shelters, which are notorious for being chaotic and dangerous.
Tenants often file complaints of burglaries, thefts and resident-on-resident harassment with the management office, but little has been done to rectify these problems. This has left some residents feeling as though the transition from shelter to permanent housing didn’t significantly improve their condition. Most of the Vincent’s residents are unemployed, unemployable or not interested in finding work.
Case managers, who are charged with the responsibility of identifying and targeting specific needs of those on their caseload, do not involve themselves in the lives of those whom they manage. Mental health disorder treatment, substance abuse treatment and employment training are critical and provide opportunities for case managers to assist its residents in finding the help they need. By neglecting to develop individual relationships with individuals in their caseload, managers can not identify their clients’ specific needs or provide appropriate referrals.
In contrast, Delivering Innovation in Supportive Housing (DISH), a property management agency, takes a more active approach in improving the lives of its residents. Programs such as a Narcan overdose response training are offered and attendees are given a small stipend for participation. Overdoses are common throughout the city’s SROs and a resident who is a fully trained Narcan administrator can help save lives
Case management is held to a higher standard at DISH in that its managers regularly meet with those on their caseloads and offer suggestions to its clients for programs which focus on their individual needs. If a resident is struggling with substance use disorder, referrals for treatment programs are provided. If employment training is required then the DISH’s case managers refer its own clients to an employer such as Goodwill or the St. Anthony Foundation. These actions have proven to be helpful in the development of residents to become more productive citizens of the city.
In closing, one must remember that funding for these nonprofit management agencies comes from public funding. Taxpayers should be informed of how these programs are managed and utilized to improve residents’ lives.This could be accomplished through a committee composed of residents of the different management agency’s SROs. This committee could act as a liaison between the residents and higher management by voicing complaints, concerns or suggestions for improvement. By coming together they could compare SROs that actively meet their tenants’ needs with those that offer bare minimum assistance. This would offer those in higher levels of management the opportunity to engage with representatives of the clients they serve, while also providing the residents a forum for growth and empowerment. I’m not an organizer by any stretch, I believe a committee should be able to see through the facade of bad-actor landlords. And this committee should strive for greater transparency and accountability within these SROs by regularly meeting with representatives from city government.
