I’M BIG……I’M BAD……..I’M A BID!!

by Quiver Watts

Patrolling and controlling our public spaces— sidewalks, streets and parks— Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) are privatizing our downtowns and main thoroughfares. Our public spaces are becoming corridors and shopping centers that are welcoming consumers with open arms and excluding everyone else. Most particularly impacted by this emerging trend are the houseless communities, who are seeing these areas to rest and sleep, free from harassment and criminalization, shrink.  

BIDs have been growing significantly across the United States.

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Safer Inside: A Community Demonstration

by Jack Rice

It would be easy to miss, with Prop C in full swing, with political candidates talking about their “solutions to the biggest challenges facing the city today”, with successive mayors intensifying the criminalizing sweeps of our friends and family on the streets… But San Francisco is making radical steps – leading the country, in fact – with the first ever demonstration model of a safe injection site in the United States.

“Safer Inside: A Community Demonstration” took place in the last week of August,

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BLACK HISTORY MONTH OR THANKING THE SLAVES FOR MAKING AMERICA GREAT?

by Bilal Mafundi Ali

For many people, especially Black people, the month of February signifies the annual celebration of Black History Month/African-American Heritage Month.  February is designated as a time to recognize African American achievements and contributions to America. One notable consequence is the hero worship of a handful of prominent figures.  What’s more, this celebration of Black achievement particularly tends to be sanitized, and this selective representation is often at the expense of erasing a rich legacy of individuals,

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Fundraiser for COHSF – August 12, 2017 at the Roxie Theater!

by Quiver Watts

We are excited to present an upcoming benefit for the Coalition on Homelessness at the historic Roxie Theater! Mark your calendars for this special occasion: Saturday, August 12 at 1:30pm. Details below.

<< BUY TICKETS ONLINE HERE! >>

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(NOT) IN MY BACKYARD is an evening of local documentary short films on San Francisco’s housing crisis, followed by a panel from the Homeless Speakers Bureau.

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Vendor Profile: Ronald Rodgers

by Quiver Watts

I’ve been selling the Street Sheet for over a year now. I sell the Street Sheet in order to provide for myself and my needs, and help others. I like the paper; I want the people to understand what’s going on here in San Francisco. I’ve been in Oakland, San Leandro, Sacramento with the Street Sheet and most people are amazed by the stories going on in San Francisco. I’m glad we have the paper called the Street Sheet,

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A Note About The Navigation Centers From a Former Client

by Shyhyene Brown

As we see there is a total of four Navigation Centers here in San Francisco. There is one in the Mission, another on Market, the third at the Dogpatch, and the last one on Army Street.

So I asked a few people about their opinions about the new Navigation Centers and this is what they say. (Mind you, some of these individuals asked to keep their names anonymous during this interview,

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San Francisco’s “High Disgust Sensitivity” To Homelessness

by TJ Johnston

Raise your hands if you’re in favor of housing homeless people and programs that make it possible.

Now, raise your hands if you support laws imposing bans on sleeping outside or panhandling.

Chances are, in this scenario, you’d see the same set of hands raised favoring both approaches to homelessness. According to a pair of political scientists, that’s not unusual.

Scott Clifford of the University of Houston and Spencer Piston of Boston University studied this phenomenon of dueling impulses by commissioning a public opinion poll.

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Littering Fine Could Increase to $1000 in Dolores Park

by Maia Hibbett

On any sunny Saturday, hundreds of people fill the Mission’s Dolores Park with their friends, pets, music—and their trash. Current anti-littering laws do little to combat this latter phenomenon, as on most days, police officers in Dolores Park can be seen standing at the top of the hill, surveying the park for violent or egregious misconduct but doing nothing about the wrappers, cigarettes, bags, and other refuse being left by the park’s attendees. While the officers watch along the perimeters,

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Vendor Profile: Gerome V. Owens

by Gerome Owens

My name is Gerome V. Owens. I was born June 6, 1950. I was raised in San Francisco. I grew up in Lower Pacific Heights, Japan Area and Lower Haight, which is called the Western Addition. I am the oldest child of four children that precede me in death. At the age of seven, my parents separated. The second oldest and I stayed with my mother.

My youngest brother stayed with my dad.

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No Housing for Immigrants in the Sanctuary City

by Gianni Jones

In the Bay Area, accessing housing is a challenge many Americans face. While rents are rapidly rising, wages have stagnated; someone who works one, two, or even three minimum wage jobs in the Bay Area just can’t afford to live here anymore. Now imagine being an undocumented immigrant attempting to access limited, expensive housing and provide for your family. Often times, it can be a debilitating and stressful experience. The current implications of immigration policies in America displace and traumatize immigrants and refugees as well as foster hysteria and xenophobia amongst non-immigrants.

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