Families have been short-changed. The City has provided $700,000 in eviction prevention funds and plans to build 498 units of subsidized housing in 2007. However, only 16% of those units will go to homeless families. With 3,000 homeless families in San Francisco, this plan will aid less than 3% of the total population of families in need, leaving roughly 2,920 families without housing. In addition, as Federal cuts to Section 8 vouchers increase, more and more families are at risk of becoming homeless from evictions.

A first step toward prioritizing families would be a reversal of the allocations of subsidized housing so that 84% will go to families. Though this reversal would help the City move toward housing its homeless families, it would still only aid 14% of the total population.

The City has a surplus budget of $127 million, a surplus that will most likely go into beautifying the city or buying the Hunter’s Point Shipyards so that the 49ers will have a toxic-waste-free stadium come 2012… Unless, that is, solving homelessness becomes a real priority.

“We need to be putting money into projects that make sure every family in San Francisco has a home,” said Jennifer Friedenbach, a staff member at the Coalition on Homelessness.

A Popular Assembly

To address the invisibility of homeless families in these debates, the Housing First for Families Campaign (HFFC) hosted a Popular Assembly on March 15. In honor of National Women’s Month, the organizers of the assembly joined forces with the Women’s Group, a group of homeless and formerly homeless women who support and reach out to families who are low-income or homeless. By 11:00, the Coalition office had filled with mothers, grandmothers, and children, all eager to work toward finding housing—not just for themselves, but for every other family that shared in their struggle.

Isaura Casillas, a mother and three-year volunteer for the HFFC, has recently found housing but continues to work on the campaign: “It’s really important that all the families that stay in the streets and shelters have the same opportunity,” she said.

The aim of the assembly was to raise consciousness through personal testimonies and to prepare families for a rally and press conference with the Mayor on March 30. This press conference comes after a long struggle: Since August, the HFFC had sent 15 letters requesting a meeting with the Mayor—15 letters that were ignored until just now.

“I’m going to let him know what’s going on in my life because I won’t let my kids go down the same road,” said Charie Sharp, mistress of ceremonies at the assembly, in a fiery speech to get the families involved to speak out and sign a banner that will be presented to the Mayor on March 30.

“We’re gonna suffer and suffer and fight some more, but we’re gonna get what we need,” said Manya Landers, another mother and advocate at the Coalition.

Outreach and Recommendations

To find out what families really need, the HFFC engaged in outreach around the city. They interviewed families in transitional housing such as SROs, shelters, and hotels, families that have either obtained housing through HSA or are on the waiting list, families living in SROs for a long time, and low-income families

“The only way we can find solutions around the housing issues is by first outreaching to the families in the places they stay and live,” says Miguel Carrera, organizer of the Campaign. “The only way we can win this campaign is for the families to be a part of the campaign and work together.”

Based on what they found from these families, the HFFC established three major recommendations:

1. Create at least 1600 permanent housing units by 2012 that will be affordable for even the poorest families.
2. Fight for subsidies for families in private market housing.
3. Triple eviction prevention funds.

Jennifer emphasized that eviction prevention should be a higher priority for the City, “so families can stay put and avoid going through the trauma of being homeless.”

Trauma

Because most homeless families transition between shelters, hotels, and SROs, or live doubled up with family or friends, they are one of the least visible segments of the homeless population and are therefore often forgotten during budget and policy debates. Though there are a handful of family shelters in the city, most shelters and SROs operate to service individuals, causing families to split up or to seek out other options for shelter, often making it hard for advocates to reach out to them. Fear of separation caused by threats from social services adds to this silence.

In addition, the struggle of day-to-day living in itself leaves little time for families to speak out about the immense obstacles they face trying to raise their children. In a personal testimony during the assembly, Manya Landers pointed out that being homeless and taking care of children is a full-time job—a point which many people that have never experienced homelessness fail to recognize.

Three years ago, Manya lost her job when the company she worked for was bought out. This upset her husband and Manya soon became a victim of domestic abuse, losing her home, her car, and her friends in the blink of an eye.

“I’d never known anyone that had been in the system, so I was left flailing,” she said.

Before beginning her work on the campaign for homeless families, Manya had been stuck in what seemed like a never-ending system, tossed around between service centers, case managers, and agencies.

“No one actually tells you what to do or how to help yourself,” she said. “It’s a terrible epidemic when there is no room in a domestic violence shelter.”

Manya continues to pay too much for a small studio apartment that she lives in with her kids, and the threat of eviction is a constant stress. She said that her kids have had to overcome social problems; they can’t have visitors in their apartment. After staying with their grandmother in Palm Springs while Manya scrambled to find a place to stay, the kids don’t understand why they have to live this way.

This point was reiterated by Charie Sharp, a mother of six who has been homeless for eight years. At first, she lived in housing provided by the San Francisco Housing Authority but said it was, “like passing through Hell’s gates.” She suffered through a stroke that was most likely caused by all the stress that she was under, and, because she was not provided proper medical care, the symptoms lasted two years. During this time, she jumped from shelter to shelter, a process that she said severely interrupted the family bond and negatively affected her ability to be a mother to her children.

“You never know what’s going through their minds. They get rebellious because all they know is that they’re jumping from place to place,” she said. “They start acting up in school, not being their normal self.”

Charie is now living in a one-bedroom SRO, but states, “I don’t want to make it permanent because it’s not a place for kids to be happy or at peace.”

Carla Garner, who grew up in the projects and has eight children and six grandchildren, said that the campaign to find housing is extremely important to her as well. Growing up, she didn’t like life at all because she didn’t understand it. She wants a different life for her children and grandchildren.

“It’s hard for me to see them go through what I’ve been through and to think it’s okay… Kids that never leave the projects don’t know anything different,” she said. “Today, I need housing so that I can help somebody else.”

A Movement Away from Affordable Housing

Although it seems like merely creating more housing would solve some of the problems that homeless families face, that is no longer the case. The rents for the units being built in the coming years are still too high for families to afford. Although government money is being put into this endeavor, the housing is only affordable to families earning $39,000 a year or more.

Angela Chu, an advocate from the Chinatown Community Development Center (CCDC), stated that she has seen more and more teenagers living in SRO’s because it is harder for people to save money and move out. Parents work more than one job, but it is still not enough because rent is higher and the economy is slipping.

“They can’t even afford affordable housing,” she said.

The effects of this have put major strains on life for families with teenagers in particular. Judith Martinez, whose husband’s salary can barely support their large family, lives in a cramped SRO with eight people.

She explained that it’s hard for her children to sleep and do homework because of all the noise, which often includes a crying infant. “It is difficult living together because my son is 14 years old and needs privacy. My other girls are still growing up,” she said. “It’s hard for me and my children.”

Shao Zhen Li, a peer organizer at CCDC, related the story of a family she works with: five people in a small room that is so cramped they have to use a bunkbed—parents on top, children on bottom. “A lot of rooms look like grocery stores,” and don’t even have places for people to sit down.

In her mind, it’s hardest for families with teenagers. “I’ve seen situations where a single father is with two teenage girls,” she said. “It is hard for them to even change their clothing.”

Continuing the Fight

Looking at all of these problems, it is apparent that the tiny amount of money and supportive housing allotted to homeless families right now will barely make a dent in the movement towards housing.

“He did give us money, but we need more,” said Charie Sharp regarding Mayor Newsom’s weak attempt to provide for homeless families. “The population is growing and he’s not moving fast enough.”

Although it seems like an uphill battle, the Housing First for Families Campaign continues to get homeless families to band together and fight for what they need. The mothers, grandmothers, children, and advocates who came to the assembly as well as those struggling through what seems like an unanswering system deserve our admiration.

“Families are really doing a fantastic job trying to do the best they can to hold their families together despite the difficulties,” said Angela Chu of the CCDC. “Our families are amazing.”

Katy

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 1st, 2007 at 12:06 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.