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, who is afflicted with an immunity disease called CLIPPERS syndrome, an inflammatory disease of the brain and spinal cord.
The Zavalas migrated from Honduras in search of appropriate medical care. For the past three months, Samara has endured a series of surgeries to her spine and now is recovering at Oakland’s Children’s Hospital.
However, as the Zavalas prepare for Samara’s discharge, they face a potential obstacle: the shelter where they were staying previously won’t provide a safe, stable environment needed for Samara’s continued recovery.
That’s because of the City’s coordinated entry system, which most cities use to evaluate the needs of unhoused clients to move them from the streets and shelters into housing.
“Todos Somos Samara,” or “We Are All Samara,” was the theme of the religious activist organization’s event, and one that rallygoers chanted as they marched to Catholic Charities’ access point on Mission and 25th streets.
“Who is San Francisco a city for?” Maria said when she took the podium.
At the press conference before the march, teachers at Cesar Chavez Elementary spoke in support of the family and demanded the City allow the family to retake the assessment needed to re-enter the shelter.
Under coordinated entry, cities and counties require people seeking homeless services to undergo a battery of questions about their specific needs to exit homelessness—as well as their histories that often include traumatic events. At the end of the assessment, service providers assign a number of points based on factors, such as length of previous homeless episodes and severity of medical conditions, and prioritize clients accordingly. Under this method, critics argue, most clients are considered “not homeless enough” for available housing.
At the rally, Maria charged the crowd in joining the march for her to be “reevaluated at the access point, to witness the sad reality that we go through, every time a machine gets to decide our dignity as people.”
The group marched with signs, including one with a heart balloon and a picture of Samara with the message “The hope for a home is Samara’s wish.”
After arrival at Catholic Charities, the chants continued as Maria waited to be admitted for reassessment. But the access point didn’t let her in because of the large group that gathered outside.
The group reconvened and later decided to return another day to continue this fight.
As Samara’s departure from the hospital draws near, her family and supporters continue to push for housing justice for Samara and other families like hers, as well as a system that doesn’t leave our most vulnerable families, children and people behind by labelling them “not homeless enough.”
To support Samara please call the Mayor’s office at 415-554-6141 and demand she and her family be housed and that we invest in permanent solutions for the thousands of homeless children across San Francisco. You can also donate to her gofundme: https://gofund.me/3eb5b2e3e
