A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness
by Lupe Velez
On October 15, a new City-created delegation called the Commission Streamlining Task Force held its first meeting to make recommendations on several advisory and policy groups that are focused on children and youth, homelessness and human rights, among other bodies. The Task Force reflected that the homelessness crisis is one of the biggest issues that San Francisco faces, one that Mayor Daniel Lurie has centered during his time in office.
by Eric Muscosky
Workers at the San Francisco Homeless Outreach Team spend their days helping people struggling on the streets. Now they want a fair workplace.
On August 20, workers at San Francisco Homeless Outreach Team (SFHOT) voted 38–6 to form a union with the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW). Workers said that, in addition to improved benefits, they’re hoping for more power to shape decisions about the services they provide to San Francisco’s unhoused residents.
This transcript of the Street Speak podcast was edited for brevity and clarity. Listen to this episode in its entirety at streetsheet.org/street-speak-podcast.
We welcome Apple Cronk along with her partner, Josh Donohoe, who are co-plaintiffs in the Coalition on Homelessness’s lawsuit against the City of San Francisco for their practices in encampment sweeps and the destruction of property belonging to unsheltered residents. That case was recently resolved and signed by Mayor Daniel Lurie on Friday,
Homeless Activist and Mother Fights for Housing as Disabled Daughter Leaves Hospital
by Lupe Velez
On Tuesday August 27, Faith in Action, in collaboration with United Educators of San Francisco and the Coalition on Homelessness, held a press conference, rally and march, starting at Cesar Chavez Elementary School in the Mission District and continuing to Catholic Charities. The event was held in support of a houseless family, Maria Zavala and her daughter Samara,
by Kenyota
Content warning: This piece contains a reference to suicide.
I was homeless on the streets of San Francisco, and in several cities throughout the Bay Area, for over a decade. During those years I experienced what it felt like to be a non-person. I received the harsh stares, societal shunning and feelings of inadequacy that are common among those considered lost in the world of the unhoused.
by Charlie Fisch and Azucena Hernandez
On Tuesday, June 17, the Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) Board of Directors met to approve on a 6–1 vote a refuge permit program that would exempt oversize vehicles from a proposed two-hour parking limit for up to 12 months. Approval of the program is only the first step in Mayor Daniel Lurie’s two-phased RV ban. Members of the End Poverty Tows Coalition and their allies told the panel that this plan will lead to displacement and increased street homelessness while residents struggle to find shelter.
by Lupe Velez
Mayor Daniel Lurie unveiled a proposal for San Francisco’s city budget for the next two fiscal years in a May 30 video statement.
While funding for the San Francisco Police, Sheriff and Fire departments and the District Attorney’s office is preserved—or even increased—nonprofits with City contracts face $200 million in cuts in the next two years. These include several groups that deliver services like homelessness prevention,
On a bright Sunday afternoon on May 18, a group of transgender activists gathered at the corner of Turk and Taylor streets in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood. The group, Compton’s x Coalition, invited local media, including Street Sheet, to the rally outside the 111 Taylor St. Apartments, which stands on the site of a historic riot over a half-century before.
The rally culminated in two members of a direct action group called Traction SF climbing a fire escape to the roof and dropping two vertical banners that displayed a single message: “Liberate Compton’s.”
The building at 111 Taylor St.
A group of San Francisco based public health practitioners and community members began organizing in January in response to the City’s attack on drug users and harm reduction services in San Francisco. The Underbelly Project, which symbolizes the under-represented communities of San Francisco, began collecting interviews from unhoused people who use drugs and access harm reduction services. On March 15, the group projected powerful quotes gathered from the transcripts of those interviews on walls at the 24th Street/Mission BART Station—as a way to engage and educate the public.
“Their tactics, what they’re trying to do, they’re just using force. I think they can turn it down a notch, not be so forceful.
They come up and tell us we’re detained right off the bat.
Then they dig into our pockets and put everything on the ground. Then if they find drugs or anything, they take us to jail. We’ll get out in a couple days.
