Housing is clearly the primary solution to homelessness, along with homelessness prevention. However, families see their homelessness within the context of poverty, which they can only escape with living wage employment, education, childcare, decent public benefits, and health care.
Community-based organizations that serve homeless people fought hard, and ultimately won, against attempts by the City’s administration to divert federal funds from programs that provide housing and supportive services for homeless people to instead fund creation of new supportive housing units aimed exclusively at the so-called “chronically homeless.”
It might seem hard to fathom, but it wasn’t too many years ago that the Section 8 housing program represented the conservative policy maker’s vehicle of choice for farming out the HUD budget to “market forces.” The assault on “big government” was just picking up steam in the mid 1970s and the balance sheet suggested a partial federal subsidy floated on the open market was preferable to the price tag otherwise represented by the remaining corners of the HUD budget.
One of the city’s largest shelters, A Man’s Place, is set to close its doors at the end of June, along with South Beach Drop-in Center and Fremont Place, the medically supported detox program. Each of these programs is housed in a Catholic church-owned property set to be sold, torn down, and rebuilt as condominiums.
The Bush Administration is directing local communities to write 10-year plans to end “chronic homelessness.” Sounds like a federal initiative with the potential to unite politicians, service providers, advocates, homeless people, and the public in communities across the country. So why is it stirring up anger, fear, and resentment instead?
Congress recently passed legislation known as “Real ID.” This legislation puts a halt to the aspirations of millions of immigrants to obtain a driver’s license, or any document allowing them to board an airplane or open a bank account.
This is the latest among many discriminatory laws passed by the lawmakers in this country.
El congreso recientemente paso una legislacion conocida como “Real ID”, esta legislacion para en seco las aspiraciones de millones de inmigrantes de obtener una licencia de conducir, o cualquier documento que les permita abordar un avion o abrir una cuenta bancaria.
Recientemente la mesa de supervisores de San Francisco ha creado un comite de 13 miembros con la habilidad de monitorear el sistema de refugios de la ciudad. Este comite debe de reportar directamente a la mesa de supervisores. Este cuerpo tiene la capacidad de visitar los refugios en cualquier momento sin previo aviso para documentar las condiciones de higiene,seguridad, servicioa los clientes, atencion a las necesidades de individuales de clientes con incapacidades. De acuerdo con el Departameto de Servicios Humanos una parte de los empleados de los refugios debe ser bilingue para atender las nesecidades de los clientes que asi lo requieran, tambien deben contar con trabajadores sociales y consejeros que sean bilingues.
You need look no further than the case of serial rapist Jack Bokin to know why the SF Board of Supervisors (BOS) resolution 1564, Mitigating Violence Against Prostitutes should be immediately implemented. Bokin had attacked and violently raped at least three women when Judge Perker Meeks let him out on bail.
When the case came to court the prostitute women who testified against him faced character assassinations by the defense lawyer, and made to feel that they were on trial rather than their attacker.
