Please join us for a big action on Friday, March 30, at 11:00 a.m. on the front steps of City Hall.

We are seeking an operating subsidy so that extremely low income families can move into new housing units being built with City and redevelopment funds.

Over 500 units are going in over the next 18 months, but very few are going to homeless families.

Please come join us and support this work. The rally promises fun for the whole family: Food, easter egg hunt, dynamic speakers and more!

The word shelter connotes protection, refuge, safety. A shelter is meant to be a sanctuary from the harsh conditions of the outside world, especially for those without homes who must not only brave harsh climates living outside, but also ruthless treatment by police officers, insensitive remarks from people walking down the streets, unmonitored violence, and the constant worry of having what little they own stolen. The shelter system in San Francisco tries to offer people this sanctuary; only a handful succeed in providing a livable space for residents. Though all of the shelters in San Francisco offer relief from harsh nights on the streets by giving people a place to sleep, this should not necessarily be considered an amazing service, but rather the most basic level of care. Is merely a bed or a mat inside for the night enough? Can the City, the Human Services Agency (HSA), and the shelter system claim that they have truly provided shelter to the homeless population when only one third of those shelters meet average health and hygiene requirements? When there is an apparent lack of training for staff? When there is a blind eye turned to the needs of populations such as seniors, women, and the disabled who often need the most support?

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“How dare the Bush Administration come to San Francisco to praise itself for funding homeless assistance while it continues to decimate funding for affordable housing?” said Paul Boden, executive director of the Western Regional Advocacy Project. (more…)

If you happen to require impatient hospital or rehabilitation (rehab centers are commonly called Supervised Nursing Facilities, or SNFs) treatment here are a few tips that may help you get everything you need when you are released:

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How does such a big heart fit into such a tiny body? Mara Raider started working at the Coalition on Homelessness in 1991 as a young, bright-eyed, idealistic college student. Almost 16 years later, we are sad to announce Mara Raider is leaving the Coalition.

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Despite a wave of international concern, Los Angeles police officers continue to round up homeless people en masse and place them under arrest for petty crimes, such as littering and failing to recycle. Of the 11,000 homeless people reported to be living in Los Angeles’ Skid Row last year, the LA Police Department has reported over 4,800 arrests in the neighborhood between August 2006 and February 2007–that equals nearly one arrest for every two homeless people in the neighborhood within a five month period. Many of the reported arrests have been of homeless parents, homeless veterans, homeless senior citizens, mentally ill people who do not have treatment, and homeless people with addictive disorders.

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The Taxi-Voucher Transportation Program has provided taxi rides to medical appointments and/or health-related activities since 1973. This program is being administered by the San Francisco LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, but persons need not have visual impairments to be eligible. New funding is being provided by the San Francisco Department of Aging and Adult Services.

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In his October 26, 2006 State of the City Address, San Francisco’s Mayor Gavin Newsom emphasized the city’s quality of life—the banal, in-your-face issues of pot holes, litter, poor sidewalk and park maintenance, and weightier concerns leading to the creation of, “a new focused enforcement program to target and address… quality of life infractions.”

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