A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness
When Mayor London Breed submitted her budget to the Board of Supervisors on June 1, it had many problematic elements, but one in particular stood out for the Coalition on Homelessness: The mayor’s plan would raid $60 million from youth and family housing to pay for short-term housing, subsidies, shelter and other temporary funds for adults.
While visiting a tiny home site, Mayor Breed announced her plan that she wanted to fund shelter beds for unhoused San Franciscans.
by Everett May
Most people can appreciate the value in having a good advocate on your side during life’s challenging moments. Almost everybody has experienced a situation when an advocate was either necessary or would have come in handy. In certain circumstances advocates are not hard to find—especially if there is money involved—but that’s not always the case. Sometimes your troubles have nothing to do with money, or they are something money just can’t fix.
By Franz Chávez, Inter Press Service / International Network of Street Papers
They haul many kilos of recyclable materials on their backs but receive little in return. These Bolivian women who help clean up the environment from dawn to dusk are fighting for recognition of their work and social and labour rights.
The inhabitants of La Paz, Bolivia’s political centre, walk hurriedly and almost oblivious to the women of different ages silently opening heavy lids of municipal garbage dumpsters that are taller than the women themselves.
by Jack Bragen
The human organism is designed to survive as long as it can, to procreate when possible, and to contribute to the success, the survival, and the prestige of the group.
Human consciousness could be a product of the human body. It serves us by allowing us to think, to reason, to ponder and to be better. Consciousness, while normally it thinks itself in charge, takes a back seat to other creations of the body in some crisis situations.
by Derek Williams
One Saturday, I was sitting in front of the Safeway on Church and Market streets when a petite Black woman came up to me and told me that a store security guard just struck her on the head with a broomstick from behind. What made that worse was that she was on the toilet. What’s a mall cop doing in a women’s bathroom anyway?
A friend of mine overheard our conversation and commented that there had to be more to the story than meets the eye,
by Claudine Sipili
As a board member of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative (BHHI) Lived Expertise Advisory Board that played a major role in the design and implementation of the California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness, my participation on the project was deeply influenced by my personal experience of homelessness. Having faced the challenges and uncertainties associated with housing instability firsthand,
by Cierra Cardenas
Growing up in America during the height of globalization—and byproduct—capitalism has quickly shown me the dichotomy between human experiences as a result of a system that was built by many, to be enjoyed by few. I became aware of the classist formula of capitalism once I was able to experience its effects, both personally and from others who had seen sides of it I have never had to see.
by Jennifer Friedenbach
It was a record add-back year, even though there was a decrease in General Fund revenue and we had a Mayor’s proposed budget that cut many community programs including $60 million from housing for homeless youth and families and $30 million from child care in two voter initiatives (from 2018). In total the add-back pot for an overall $14.6 billion budget was $80 million over two years.
by Jordan Davis
It seems that every year, the budget process in San Francisco is a peculiar song and dance you will not find in any other county—or in very few cities— in California. We could have a professional city manager working with the Board of Supervisors and community to create a workable budget, but there ends up being unpleasant surprises on June 1, and we have to scramble,
by Marisa Kendall, CalMatters
Losing income is the No. 1 reason Californians end up homeless—and the vast majority of them say a subsidy of as little as $300 a month could have kept them off the streets.
That’s according to a new study out of UC San Francisco that provides the most comprehensive look yet at California’s homeless crisis.
In the six months prior to becoming homeless,
