11 Minute Homeless Docu That You Can't Unsee

Please spend 11 minutes to watch this video: Chaos by the Bay

The tragic state of our stunning city has been riddled with leaders using band aids to half attempt fix this catastrophe of uprising homeless problems, the tech rich getting richer while refusing to help the needy...and ultimately the poor being absolutely disregarded until they die on our streets.

We urge you to share this post. It's important you see what we see, every single day. It's impossible to walk even for five minutes without witnessing a homeless person on the street. It's also impossible to walk for 10 minutes without seeing human defecation or needles on the sidewalk.

Please watch, please share and please spread the word - because this is our San Francisco and these are our people that need help.

We wish you a safe and calm New Year's eve, from all of us at SF CARES.

Healthy Christmas To All

It's an understatement to say that 2020's been dire for everyone on the planet who's not made more millions or billions during this pandemic. While the wealthy hoarded cash and grew their bank balance, first responders, health care workers, the elderly, the ones laid off, the ones that lost their homes, the ones that lost their loved ones to Covid-19, the ones that couldn't cope with isolation and the ones that were barreled to hunger all suffered on horrifying proportions. 

This Christmas, we won't wish you a happy season's greetings. Those words mean nothing at this stage. What we will say is that from all of us at SF CARES, we truly wish you out of this misery, we wish you better health (in mind, body and spirit) and we wish that the doors reopen in 2021 or sooner. 

With over 1 million people vaccinated already and Operation Warp Speed keeping to its name and promise, anything can happen. It can turn for the better in a moment's notice because when God's at the helm, steering this ship called Earth, we must believe that what we're going through is for His divine reason. He's never left us. He's never abandoned us. He's forever present and He works in mysterious ways most don't understand.

This Christmas is about faith in Him. It's about hope in His plan for all of us and it's about His story that we're acting in. He's the author, we're the stage participants and we must always keep that at the forefront of our minds.

And if you have $5.00 spare, then give $1.00 to five homeless people. The gratitude you'll receive from a beaming thank you will make you realize how fortunate you are to have keys to your own front door, a door you can close in safety, a bed you have to sleep on and a fridge that has food in it.

Miracles are all around us but most of us don't see them. They may be the small ones such as your utility bill being lower than you expected or a store cashier jumping to help when your self-pay kiosk stops working. They also may be the big ones such as vaccines, predicted to arrive in a few years, that have already been produced and are doing their job.

So again, we wish you a healthy Christmas, healthy enough to ride out this pandemic. Healthy enough to go outside for a walk, to enjoy the sun, to enjoy the snow, to enjoy nature and enjoy seeing a cheeky raccoon rummage through trash, to enjoy watching a pandemic puppy wag his or her tail while sniffing every single tree, to enjoy waving to a child that's stomping in puddles and to enjoy giving yourself a break for enduring a tremendous test from the Lord Almighty. Keep talking to God and build your relationship with Him at this critical juncture. Have a very healthy Christmas!

 

Food Banks Are Overloaded

Each week, we volunteer at various nonprofits including food banks and prep food kitchen where foods are packaged in record time and handed to low income households. For example, Food Runners produces around 2000 meals a day, six days a week and today, our local food bank confirmed that over 500,000 bags of groceries have been distributed since Covid-19, including 130,000+ of those bags being packed and handed out at one pop up pantry site in San Francisco. The city has temporarily stalled evictions for people unable to pay full rent but this is all short lived, rent will one day be back-owed and in the meantime, these unfortunate souls can't afford basic meals. At the pace we've been going, the food will keep coming, people will be fed decent meals (incredible donated produce, not one junk item in sight) and hopefully many will ride this pandemic with at least a roof over their head. With vaccines arriving around the country faster than a cannon, our country is starting to tip the scales and hope & light is on the horizon thanks to our leaders, our medical experts and our sheer faith in God.

More of the statistics behind food banks current state are featured in this Kron4 article. As huge supporters and advocates for the needy, food banks don't always offer what the homeless require. The bags include fruit, vegetables, dry food, tinned foods and ultimately, items that need to be cooked. Obviously the homeless don't have the luxury of a home, a kitchen nor an oven so they rely on items handed to them by passerbys' and the few soup kitchens available that are operating on skeletal levels. Prior to Covid-19, if you were homeless, you were guaranteed three meals a day. That was the only silver lining. Post mid March, those food opportunities have completely dwindled as shelter in place hit wave after wave.

If you've sat in pajamas for the past few months, getting used to a life of working from home, irritated that you want to get back to the gym and frustrated that your social existence is on hold, maybe you can put that pent up energy into doing good. Spring clean your home and give away shoes, socks and clothing to street dwellers while you're out and about. Spent two hours a week at a food bank, packing groceries for people waiting in line that have zero cash to spend knowing what you have in your bag, is all they'll eat that day. The hard truth: What you're holding in your palm is going to fill their stomach and without you, they'll starve. Pop over to the Food Runners website and pitch in for 120 minutes once a week or chopping and packing food, helping to clean up boxes ready for shipping to the neighborhood.

Get out, do something good, be useful, help others, be thankful and eternally grateful that you have a door to lock, a bed to sleep in, a TV to entertain you and your health. 

Because when Covid-19's over and life resumes back to 'normal,' you'll one day remember that during the unrest, you had the health, opportunity and ability to help others...and then you'll ask yourself: Did I?

Homeless Miracles Extend To 2,300 Recipients

Quoted from the San Francisco Chronicle:

Over the next year, San Francisco’s homeless department says it will “end homelessness” for 2,300 people living in city-funded hotels. It’s a costly, ambitious plan that could potentially make a dent in the city’s unrelenting homeless crisis, if it succeeds.

But if the department falls short, hundreds of people with medical issues, mental illnesses and drug addiction could wind up back on the streets, and unravel the progress they might have made while living indoors the past few months.

“This is a very difficult balancing act that we’re trying to attempt,” said Abigail Stewart-Kahn, interim director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. She said the department needs to take care of people in the hotels, while also expanding resources for the many still on the streets.

On Friday, the department released its most detailed proposal yet on how it will gradually wind down the hotel program and move people into longer-term housing. According to the proposal, all of the city’s 25 hotels will close by November. That’s a longer timeline than the department’s initial plan to close the hotels by June. 

The report also details the city’s housing inventory and rent vouchers — and what it still needs to meet the demand. The city has leased 25 hotels for the homeless during the pandemic, spending between $15 million and $18 million a month on the program. The city expects the majority of the costs to be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but it’s unclear when the FEMA funding will run out.

The department said it needed to begin winding down the program because it is not financially sustainable without the FEMA funding. The city controller has warned that the reimbursement could run out with short notice.

Service providers and supervisors have sharply criticized the department over the past few months for what they said was a hasty wind-down that would leave many people without stable housing. Following the backlash — as well as an extra $10 million in state assistance — the department took a step back and revised their proposal.

According to the proposal, the first 476 people will be gradually moved out of seven hotels by the end of March. Some residents will be placed into housing beginning in January. The department will consolidate those still waiting for a housing placement into other hotels.

But a look at San Francisco’s available housing options shows the challenges ahead.

There are about 520 permanent supportive housing units set aside for the first phase of closures — but not all are available, or even funded. That funding depends on the Board of Supervisors approving a spending plan that taps the city’s Proposition C funds, a business tax that was passed in 2018.

Stewart-Kahn said it’s essential that the department can use the Prop. C money to pay for more permanent supportive housing and rental vouchers. Without that money, she said, the department will struggle to offer all hotel residents long-term housing.

The Our City Our Home committee — which oversees the Prop. C funds — will make recommendations to the board on how to spend the money. The Board of Supervisors will then vote on the spending plan this month.

Jennifer Friedenbach, director of the Coalition on Homelessness and a member of the Prop. C advisory committee, said there is “a lot of positive stuff” in the report, and she is pleased the department listened to the community and extended the timeline for the closures.

But, she said, she is worried the plan is over-reliant on Prop. C funds.

If the department uses the Prop. C fund as outlined in the report, she said it would not leave enough money to address the hundreds — maybe thousands — of people who are still living on the streets.

She said she would rather the city use Prop. C funds to be able to get “another couple hundred people off the streets” by, for example, buying more hotels. The city has bought two hotels so far, which it plans to turn into permanent supportive housing.

Sara Shortt, director of policy and organizing at the Community Housing Partnership, said the new plan was a “vast improvement” from the previous one and she is glad the city will have more time to figure out where to place people.

“However, the information about housing options for residents still leaves a lot of uncertainty,” she said.

As San Francisco slows down the closures, officials in Alameda County are facing criticism for their plan to close most hotels for the homeless by February.

Several supervisors in San Francisco also proposed legislation this week that would halt the wind-down process, unless FEMA provides written notification that it would stop providing funding to the city.

Supervisor Hillary Ronen, a co-sponsor of the legislation, said she is glad “the mayor and her staff finally realize that it makes no sense to close the (shelter-in-place) hotels in the middle of the worst COVID surge during the dead of winter.”

But Ronen said she still wanted more details to ensure that “no one currently living in the hotels is returned to the street and that there continues to be places for people to go that are living on the streets today.”

 

Christmas Miracle For The Homeless

The homeless will not be thrown out of shelter in place hotels - what wonderful news, even if a temporary measure with no end date given yet. This is such a great San Francisco Chronicle article, we're simply going to paste it here with the link to the original story:

The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing originally planned to close seven hotels — where about 500 people live — by Dec. 21. But after receiving about $10 million in state assistance, the department said in a tweet and an internal email this weekend that it would extend that timeline. But it’s unclear by how much.

The department promised it will connect all hotel residents with housing, however, many have been skeptical of that plan given the city’s dearth of affordable options. The department told The Chronicle on Tuesday that it intends to unveil a more detailed plan this week, but it could not immediately share the details.

More than 2,300 people live in the hotels, and hundreds — maybe thousands — more people are still sleeping on San Francisco’s streets as the temperature drops and COVID-19 cases surge.

“While all of this is still evolving, we want to confirm that with the flexibility provided by this additional funding, no (shelter-in-place) hotels will need to close in 2020, providing us at least a 30-day extension,” Abigail Stewart-Kahn, interim director of the department, said in a staff email that was later shared with The Chronicle.

Still, Supervisors Matt Haney, Shamann Walton, Hillary Ronen and Dean Preston planned to introduce legislation Tuesday that would “prohibit” the city from moving people out of the hotels unless they find other housing, or if the Federal Emergency Management Agency notifies the city that it will stop reimbursing the program.

The program costs between $15 million and $18 million a month. FEMA plans to reimburse the city for most of it, but the city must reapply for the funding each month. The department said it is worried the FEMA funding will run out with short notice, and therefore must gradually wind down the program by June.

The department has promised that every hotel resident would be matched with a permanent supportive housing unit, rent voucher or a bus ticket to connect with friends or family that they can live with instead. It has said that no residents will go back out to the streets or to a shelter.

Despite the assurances, several hotel residents said they’re still in the dark about the city’s plans.

Chucky Torres, who lives in a hotel originally scheduled to close in December, has been extremely stressed about where she’ll live next. She learned through a reporter Tuesday that the department does not plan to close any hotels by the end of the year.

While Torres — who lived in a Navigation Center shelter before moving into a hotel in April — said that the pause was a bit of a relief, she was still worried about the future.

Torres said that she has been calling her case manager every day, but has not heard back for weeks. In the meantime, she said, she has been updating her resume and trying to figure out how to get a job.

“When I have somewhere to live and have a job, it gives me something to look forward to,” she said.

According to the department, 336 permanent supportive units were available as of November. The city plans to invest in 1,500 new units over the next two years. It’s also working on expanding other options, like rent-subsidy programs.

Haney, who spearheaded the legislation, said the department’s pause is “welcomed but it’s nowhere near enough to ensure we don’t end up with more people on the streets.”

“They still intend to close the SIP (shelter in place) hotels, one of the most necessary and cost-effective health responses during this pandemic, without an adequate plan or placements, during a massive surge as the cold comes in,” he said. “That’s not acceptable.”

The legislation directs San Francisco to keep all hotel rooms open until the city’s shelter-in-place order is rescinded. If people move into other stable housing options, the city must then fill that room with someone else who is homeless. The department would also have to release a weekly report on how many people have been assessed for housing and where they have moved.

There was no extra funding identified for the program in the legislation, and it’s unclear how the board would enforce it if passed. At a news conference last week, the supervisors pointed to possible funding sources, which included excess money from a state education fund, money from a business tax for homeless services and possible federal stimulus funding.

The board also did not add any money to the current budget for the hotel program, despite calling for the program to be expanded by several thousand rooms.

As they wait for more details from the department, Sara Shortt, director of policy and community organizing at the Community Housing Partnership, said the stress among residents and staff is “palpable.”

“Until residents get direct communication notifying them that they will continue to be able to live in the hotels until they are adequately housed, I wouldn’t feel comfortable with that,” she said.

Torres, the shelter resident, said she’s trying to remain hopeful.

“I’m going to move into a nice little spot, out of the Tenderloin,” she said. “And I have a high expectation and a good feeling that my life is going to do a 180 in a minute, and come 2021, I’m going to be living a little better.”

 

 

What's One Thing Homeless Have In Common?

Yesterday, we hit the streets of San Francisco with a big bag full of necessities for the homeless. The bag included bowls of spatzle, pastries, cakes and snow boots. Within 20 minutes, the spatzles were handed out to extremely grateful street dwellers, who's hungry dogs were already nose deep in the pasta. A few blocks later, we came across a teenager. She was barefoot, wearing one thin sweater and obviously needed help. We handed her the snow boots, she tried them on and they fitted perfectly. We continued our walk and within the next hour, gave away all the pastries and cakes. 

What's one thing that all these homeless people have in common? Yes, they live on the street. Yes, they have no cash. Yes, they have fallen on their luck. Yes, they have no warmth in winter. Yes, they worry they'll be robbed, beaten or verbally attacked. But what else do they have in common? Every single one of them said thank you, in gratitude, as they looked us in the eye.

When we placed the last cake at the side of a man, sleeping in the park, we accidentally woke him up. He started to yell, assuming his possessions were about to be stolen. When he realized we were offering him food, he instantly apologized. And then thanked us a dozen times.

The homeless are the most polite people and relentlessly thank anyone that provides food, shelter, clothing or bedding. They have a fantastic, kooky sense of humor and always ready to offer a quip, are forever chomping for a banter and are amazing misfits that deserve so much more in life.

En-route home with an empty bag, we passed by a block full of al fresco diners. When the food was served, customers barely glanced at the waiter/waitress. Thank you's were sparse. The contrast between the dismissive diners versus the grateful homeless were worlds apart.

This Thanksgiving week, please find three items at home that you don't want and offer them to the homeless. Whether it's old sweaters, sneakers, mittens, hats, food items, take a few of these out on the street and pay forward to someone sitting on the corner. Give thanks for all you have this Thanksgiving and in return, you'll be looked right in the eye as someone says thank you, with pure gratitude. Please share this post and spread the kindness.

Save The Date: The Homeless Marathon

Copied and pasted from The Homeless Marathon with our comments in italic: The 22nd Homelessness Marathon will air on Wednesday, December 9th, from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Please click the link, above, for new update.

The Homelessness Marathon is a unique radio program that gives homeless people and their allies a chance to speak with the nation about their experiences. Broadcasting from a different city each year, the Marathon features live reports, interviews with advocates and experts, and calls from listeners all over the country. Each hour of the program focuses on a different aspect of the problem, from youth to veterans, and from evictions to shelters.

The Homelessness Marathon goes underground
to talk with some of the forgotten people of Washington, DC.

Above all, the program centers the voices of homeless people talking about their real circumstances, obstacles, and potential solutions.

The goal is to create a dialogue on poverty, its causes and effects, and ideas for solving the homelessness crisis. The program goes beyond just talking about homelessness. instead, it focuses on hearing and learning from the lived experiences of homeless people around the nation... ideas and voices that are completely missing from current political discourse.

Please save the date and spread the word about their marathon on the 9th December. We walk past homeless people every day but how many times have we stopped to hear their stories? Maybe we chat for a moment when we're offering food but we really don't get to know our street living neighbors. This is the time that we can learn about how the other half live, and we can start to eliminate judgment that 'they live on the streets because they messed up.' Many homeless were born into poverty, came from addicted parents, were physically abused, harassed and bullied for being different, suffered mental health problems or the issue arose from a multitude of bad situations that resulted in street life. Some people may have been recently evicted due to Covid-19 causing their income to diminish, and their landlord refused to give an inch in short-term negotiating rent. Others may have been illegally forced out their home after being unable to retain a lawyer to fight their corrupt landlord's eviction notice, they didn't have enough income to rent a new home nor stable work to show as a reference to a potential landlord so the street was their only option. Never presume that the poverty gave up on life and were incompetent at money management - assume that each has their own unique story and that most of us are one month (or a bad landlord) away from also living on the curbside. Please share this post and join the 9th December Homeless Marathon. 

Homeless Getting A Second Home-Chance?

Yesterday, San Francisco's Mayor announced that the city would be relocating the homeless (currently in hotels) into stable housing, once the 'hotels for homeless' program hits expiration next month. We blogged about this last week and are very happy to hear our city is providing more permanent housing for the ones that cannot afford a home of their own. This is the opener of the city's statement:

 

"Working with community partners, Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing initiates first phase of plan to eventually move 2,300 people out of hotels and into stable housing solutions, ensuring that people exit into stability and not the street."

 

Without affordable housing, thousands of our street living residents would perish this winter. Even though San Francisco doesn't offer brutal harsh weather that comes with subzero freeze or snow, with our milder two season climate, our quite consistent warmer weather is what we're used to. So when the temperature rapidly drops, as it has the past week, everyone feels the cold. Now imagine having the comfort of decent room temperature from a hotel environment for a few months, to then be evicted onto the street again. The body can't adapt that fast, especially when people are spending day after day and night after night outside, sleeping on concrete and having no resources available for a hot drink.

 

San Francisco’s homeless crisis has hit national headline news the past few years and while the city did place many displaced into hotels, others were offered tent village options. From walking around our great city, many of these tent villages seem to have worked quite well yet, again, winter is upon us.

 

The more our leaders realize that they have options to support our homeless, the faster we can move even more street dwellers off the street. Two options: #1 As with last week’s blog post, the city can renegotiate lower hotel rates so people can stay indoors at least until spring. #2 With so many hotels potentially facing financial ruin due to lack of tourism, the city could convert these rooms into temporary SROs (single room occupancies).

 

Please keep spreading the word about these two options, on social media, to your district supervisor and our Mayor. The more we support the needy, the greater we invest in our city. 

 

 

 

 

Why Can't SF Negotiate With Hotels?

Please read this excerpt in City Journal:

San Francisco’s hotels and motels are slowly emptying of the homeless people that the city placed there during the Covid-19 pandemic. The city simply can’t afford the $260 per night, per person, price tag of housing approximately 2,000 people—just a portion of the estimated 8,000 people who live on the street. Where will they go? Elected officials have come up with a new plan: turn the whole city into a network of homeless encampments.

Many residents and commercial tenants started to renegotiate their rates with landlords back in September, or they'd most likely join the exodus and move to cheaper cities. Why would a landlord want to kick out a tenant for failure to afford the monthly rate, knowing property prices have dropped and tenants are leaving the city, when they could barter a short term deal? They wouldn't. They opted for accepting temporarily reduced rent in return for longer tenancy security.

This method's been working really well. We (first hand) know people who have come to an agreement with their residential or commercial landlord for up to 75% less rent per month over a short term, and landlords have agreed. 

If this is the case and the concept's proving to be a success, why can't the city also adopt the same rule of thumb for the homeless? Hotels are crumbling and many small hotels may pack up and sell out due to lack of business - most may have already, if they'd not received the city's cash to fill their rooms with the poverty. Not all hotels in the city need to cost a walloping $260 per night - that amount is outrageous. The cost rate to run a hotel can be 20% i.e. the rest is profit. Why can't the city reduce the per night average to even $100? The hotels will then be able to maintain all expenses + a decent cushion profit margin. The alternative is that shortly, the city has announced they'll be kicking out the homeless from these hotels and sending them back onto the street. 

The repercussion of this ill-thought out decision: The hotels don't receive any secure income at a time when Covid-19's hit its second wave and global influx tourism to San Francisco is at an all time low; the homeless will be living on our streets during winter (the worst possible time for them); since the street dwellers will huddle together, the chances of a citywide Covid-19 increased spike is easily possible. The latter will then result in the homeless suffering beyond comprehension, hospital beds flooded and hospitals not appreciating their revenue crash through to the basement.

The city must treat this homeless+hotels programs with a business mind set and renegotiate the rates, so the poverty are taken care of when the temperature drops. Please contact your district supervisor and urge them to tell our City Hall leaders to renegotiate those hotel rates so the homeless can stay safe. And since we have more billionaires per capita, than any other city worldwide, maybe you know of one that can finally step up and cough up hotel cash...

 

Rise Above Covid-19 Mental Health Issues

There are various statistics bouncing around regarding the impact of Covid-19 on mental health decline. The National Council for Behavioral Health published a report summarizing the following: 

• 52% of organizations have seen an increase in the demand for health services
• Of organizations offering substance abuse disorder, more than 50% have reported an increased demand
• Behavioral health organizations are also struggling financially with 26% laid off, 24% furloughed and 43% decreased staffing hours
• 54% of organizations have closed programs and 65% have had to cancel, reschedule or turn away patients
  

Summary: The number of mental health issues have rocketed yet the number of specialists able to help, have been axed from being able to do their job. This is tragic. 

Back in May, the Washington Post exposed the dramatic impact of Covid-19 whereby as early as April, a federal emergency hotline registered more than a 1000% increase from calls by people in emotional distress versus the same month in 2019. In May, around 20,000 people texted that same hotline. Talkspace, an online therapy company announced they'd received a 65% jump in clients since February. 

During the last week of June, the CDC reported that nearly four out of every 10 people have struggled with substance abuse and mental health, with 31% of adults showing symptoms of depression or related anxiety. 

We can delve deeper into this with further statistics, but why add more salt to the wound? What we're getting at is that the pandemic has isolated people from society and it's causing a tremendous spiral downwards in mental health.

Only an expert can truly care for someone with mental health but there are always ways you can help yourself. SF CARES has been a three plus decade year old advocate for the poverty, and we don't want to see any more homeless on our streets due to depression or related illnesses. Here are two very simple solutions so please try and share these:

1. Dogs! Dogs are proven to be one of the world's greatest natural therapists. If you're a huge fan of the four legged friend, sign up to NextDoor.com or Craigslist.com and offer your services for free. Busy parents may not have the time to walk their dog since they need to help their kids with school work, or an elderly person may be worried about health implications from leaving their home. Lift everyone's spirits, your own included, by pounding the streets with Flopsy. There's nothing like taking your mind off your own problems by trying to grab a stick out a dog's mouth, especially since the Bay Area only has two mild seasons so there's no reason to cancel out evening strolls. Wonderful!
   
2. Food Banks! There are now multiple pop-up pantries around the city so set the alarm early, get outside in the morning sunshine and for two hours, pack up bags of food that people really need that same day. The feeling of helping to make 500 bags of meals, knowing that what you hold in your hand is what will feed a family for 24 hours...well it's like no other.
   

When we help others, we always help ourselves - it's a natural cycle of life. We feel better about being useful, the time spins by quickly instead of sitting at home procrastinating and it gives us the booster to volunteer again. Within a few hours, our endorphins are bouncing back in the right direction and we small talk with others so there's no social pressure involved. It's basically a good distraction from wallowing in our own self pity. Once you've walked that gorgeous dog or packed food for 120 minutes, life will start to feel balanced again.

Our own personal well-being must take a front seat. It doesn't take much to reduce the cycle of depression, substance abuse and negative thoughts. Please, please, please share this and encourage others to get out the house, be productive, support the less fortunate and it'll do you the world of good.

Affordable Housing Silver Lining From Covid-19

Please click this link from Saint Paulus Lutheran church (3 minute read) about a new initiative they'll be launching, when they return to their newly renovated church next year. The program is very simple: Saint Paulus will encourage the homeless to bring in their resume (or the church will help write one up). While the street dweller is enjoying a shower at the church (yes, there will be showers on site), Saint Paulus will match their credentials to an available job, posted by a local nonprofit, and employment will start immediately. The individual will live in a hotel or SRO (single room occupancy) during their standard employment probation period (30 or 60 days). During this time, Saint Paulus will source permanent, affordable housing for the individual. 

The church's 'Showering the Homeless with Jobs' program is outstandingly logical and received thumbs up from industry experts. From one church, with one shower, with one resume, with one job, with one home that reduces the poverty in San Francisco by 30% in the first two years of the program operating, this will make for international headline news. Nonprofits around the globe will then follow suit, using Saint Paulus's blueprint to reduce poverty in their own city - using their on site showers or partnering with nearby school gym showers.

Earlier this year after conceptualizing this idea, Saint Paulus sourced an employment partner that would feature nonprofit jobs, they accumulated the resources for volunteers to manage the program and clothing & home furnishings for applicants future apartments. The only spanner in the works that Saint Paulus experienced when they crafted this initiative, pre Covid-19, was sourcing affordable housing or SROs. They were so scarce due to landlords only wanting to develop expensive condos for the tech community. As a result, affordable housing was pushed to the end of the line and the few available apartments were at rock bottom numbers, causing a caveat for the program's life cycle to rotate effectively. 

A few months ago, the church spoke to city officials who promised to keep their eyes and ears open for housing opportunities. This week, that promise came true. A kind hearted and pursuit-for-good official talked with an organization that had property owner clients chomping to develop SROs yet didn't have an audience, since 20% of San Francisco residents had permanently pandemic-fled the city for cheaper homes outside the Bay Area. 

This blessing in disguise opportunity has resulted in Saint Paulus discussing their program with the organization, that now has an abundance of affordable homes to rent. So when Saint Paulus returns to 999 Eddy Street early next year, and the 'Showering the Homeless with Jobs' program kicks off, all their ducks are in a row to jump start the program: jobs, homes and the adulation of seeing the needy getting a second chance in life.

Covid-19 has thrown the planet into a different curve ball yet there are silver linings all around us. For over 30 years, SF CARES has advocated for the homeless and with our partners, such as Saint Paulus Lutheran church, we are finally seeing a light at the end of the coronavirus tunnel. Empty tech buildings that are perfectly painted, decorated and have state of the art kitchens will be home to nonprofit programs - programs that went abandoned due to big tech grabbing all available, price hemorrhaged square ft in our beloved city. Empty SROs and affordable apartments will now be home to thousands of diverse individuals that were hanging on by a thread for years, unable to pay sky high rents.

The silver linings are all around us and this is the time we're now turning lemons into lemonade by seeing these gem slithers of opportunities, and helping the needy get back on their own two feet. If you want to support Saint Paulus by way of a donation (monetary, clothing or home furnishings) to their Showering/Homeless program, have connection that may help their initiative or are looking to volunteer your time, please email our partner church: admin@saintpaulus.org

And most importantly: Have faith that good things do happen to good people.

 

 

 

Laid Off? Fancy a Job at the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing?

The irony is not lost on us - the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (DHSH) need staff, fast. During this pandemic and with people being laid off left, right and center, you'd assume that any job would be needle-in-the-haystack scarce. But according to the San Francisco Chronicle (link above), a new city report states that the DHSH is absolutely understaffed and completely unprepared to handle the expanse of homeless numbers rising in San Francisco.

One thing to point out though is that the city and state have extended the 'tenants won't be evicted' deadline to early 2021, if the tenants are unable to pay rent due to being laid off. So why the DHSH are having kittens over so many potential homeless, when residents aren't going to be the cause of poverty rising due to this city/state support, is slightly lost on us. 

Maybe they're pre-empting that come January and when the city/state tenant support stops, the poverty numbers will increase. But if we're still in the Covid-19 midst, then the city/state will yet again extend their support to residents unable to pay rent. 

In the meantime, there are a few factors to take into account. The PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) and Stimulus check (remember the $1200 you received months ago?) may be back on the cards. That'll help the struggling residents for only a short while but at least it's a minor start. But if you'd like inspiration of either the impression of a growing economy or maybe a bonafide economy boosting, just head down to Cow Hollow or the Marina district. Alfresco seating booths are in abundance, taking up entire blocks, and night after night the tables are full of diners. 

Yet if you're not one of those servers, not one of those restaurant owners or not one of the diners, because you're absolutely strapped for cash, then contact the DHSH for open job positions. The Budget & Legislative Analyst's Office has confirmed a near 26% staff vacancy rate. They also have a high turnover rate, so that dream job you want, might be available sooner than you think. They DHSH also has $26.5m left unspent of which could have been injected into helping the homeless with food, supplies, temporary SRO housing etc.

Either way, there are sometimes blessings in disguises that come along our life paths. This might just be one of those. A job, stability, income, a roof over your head and the ability to climb through the career Jungle Jim towards greater prosperity...while paying forward and helping those who currently sleep in tents on the street.

Please share this because if you're not on the job prowl, then someone you know may be and they might desperately be in need of a break in life. Let us all give it to them.

 

 

Why Are Tent Dwellers So Hated?

We just came across a great article about the ATE movement - anti tent energy. Imagine that you're coming home and there's a tent dweller outside your apartment. They're not loud, are keeping their perimeter clean and always say hello to you. But you're mad. Because you pay rent for an apartment and they're living feet away from you, for free. Life's not fair, right?

Fair to who? 

The homeless? A down on their luck person that maybe once had a good job, fell on hard times, was evicted in the past decade (50% of evictions during that time period were illegal) and are ecstatic to have some sort of stability - by way of a temporary address, a roof over their head and somewhere to store their belongings instead of dragging them around in a shopping cart.

You? Working from the comforts of your own home for six plus months, snuggled up in pajamas, taking those occasional breaks for Zoom exercise boot camp classes and sneaking in a few shopping sprees...because you're worth it. Finances aren't a worry, the salary is rolling in and your trusty overpriced app food delivery service is usually on time so you can vegan and gluten free your way through a night of Netflix.

But when you look out your living room window, you're mad. The ATE in you towards your tent residing 'neighbor' has now blocked your perfect world. The tent village across the street irritates you to no end. And you want these people gone, away from your idyllic life while you sign up for the next 'equality for all' and 'diversity is healthy' protests, taking place this weekend.

If you live in the suburbs, there are expected hierarchy tiers that come with a picket fence, 2.2 kids, an SUV and a newly delivered Labradoodle puppy. For us urbanites, life is more integrated, scrappier and wealth is designed to meet poverty on every single corner. Dreaming of the day when tent residents are sent packing back to the central freeway underpass, Tenderloin or Mission Bay is not how urban environments operate. If you live in a city, you must understand how the socioeconomic dynamics work. 

So sniffing your nose in disgust because you just returned from from a cocktail happy hour soiree at a luxury outdoor parklet ($20 per drink, naturally) has turned a lovely evening into a complete nosedive, because the homeless man or woman is eating food with their fingers at their tent, outside your home and they've utterly ruined your evening...this is exactly what you signed up for when you moved to San Francisco. 

You now have three options:

1. Continue to belittle the ones less fortunate than yourself. Good luck in how that'll turn out.
2. Be kinder to the homeless and when you're heading out or returning home, give them a soda, a sandwich or a few snacks.
3. Step up the plate and donate your time at a food bank, the Salvation Army, Food Runners, Project OpenHand, Glide, Shanti.org or one of the multiple nonprofits that continue to advocate for the needy. 

Remember, just like Bob or Amanda that are tent living outside your home: One month they were gainfully employed yet over the next two months, they lost their job, were illegally evicted and now live outside the apartment they once enjoyed...the home you rented from that same landlord. Embrace San Francisco for all its diversity, or move to suburban pastures and put a downpayment on one of these little angelic beauties:

 

 

 

 

 

Update On Tenant Eviction Protection

Since March when shelter in place kicked off, many residents panicked that they'd lose their homes after losing their jobs. The city and state greatly helped out, assuring residents that they'd not be evicted for failure to pay rent. As the months progressed, the laws were adapated to protect tenants. Today, an amendment in tenant protection has been posted - we're copying and pasting the entire update. We cannot afford to have any more people homeless so please read, and share, and then share again. Thank you.

Tenant Rights Link:

About the COVID-19 emergency tenant protections

If you can pay your rent, you should do so. However, if you cannot pay and your landlord tries to evict you, these protections may safeguard you against eviction.

What to know

These government actions are difficult to understand: if you need legal advice about a specific situation, you should contact an attorney or the Eviction Defense Collaborative at (415) 659-9184 or legal@evictiondefense.org. You can also contact the Rent Board, a mediator, or a tenant counselor for more information.

Please keep in mind, rent is still owed – it has not been forgiven or cancelled. You should respond to any nonpayment notice from a landlord within 15 days, and you should pay at least 25% of the rent due each month between September 1 and January 31. You can either pay 25% each month or make a lump-sum payment before January 31.

Mayor Breed’s Order was the first to establish emergency tenant protections during COVID-19. Mayor Breed extended this Order on August 25. The rules and regulations for this Order are available here. A complete summary of local, state, and federal emergency tenant protections can be found here.

 

I could not pay rent between March 1 - August 31, 2020

AB-3088 prohibits evictions for nonpayment of rent for these months. The landlord cannot evict, but can take the tenant to small claims court starting March 1, 2021 for any rent that is still unpaid. AB-3088 requires the tenant to provide landlord a signed declaration in response to 15-day notice. There are special rules for high-income tenants.

Ordinance No. 93-20 also prohibits evictions for nonpayment of rent, but only applies to rent that fell due March 16 – September 30 (it does not apply to rent that fell due between March 1 – 15). Ordinance No. 93-20 does not have a 15-day notice or eligibility requirement, but the tenant must show documentation of hardship to the court, if sued.

 

I cannot pay rent between September 1, 2020 and January 31, 2021

Ordinance No. 93-20 prohibits evictions for nonpayment of rent that fell due during September 2020. It does not apply to unpaid rent from October 1 or later. Ordinance No. 93-20 only requires the tenant to show documentation of hardship to the court, if sued.

For rent due between September – January 2021, AB-3088 prohibits evictions for nonpayment of rent until February 1, 2021, and allows the landlord to take the tenant to small claims court starting March 1, 2021 for any rent that is still unpaid. AB-3088 requires the tenant to give the landlord signed declaration(s) in response to 15-day notice(s), AND by January 31, 2021 to pay at least 25% of the missed rent from September – January rents (can be lump-sum); special rules apply for high-income tenants.

 

There are currently no eviction protections after January 31, 2021.

I could not pay rent before March 1, 2020

CDC Order prohibits evictions for almost any reason until January 1, 2021. There are exceptions.

All adults in household must provide a signed declaration to the landlord. There are income and other eligibility requirements.

For more information, visit the National Housing Law Project’s website.

Can I be evicted even if I am paying my rent in full?

Evictions for reasons other than nonpayment can proceed only if necessary due to violence, threat of violence, health/safety issues, or Ellis Act. However, this limit on evictions is set to expire on November 30, 2020. Starting December 1, evictions not based on unpaid rent may proceed subject to the City’s Rent Ordinance.

The CDC Order prohibits nearly all evictions for covered tenants until January 1, 2021, and allows a declaration to be provided to the landlord at any time (more information is available here).

Your rent cannot be increased if you live in a City-regulated or a rent-controlled unit

If you live in a unit regulated by the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development or the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, your rent cannot be increased until November 1, 2020.

If you live in a rent-controlled unit, your rent cannot be increased until October 21, 2020. Click here for more information about the temporary rent freeze emergency legislation.

Get help

Financial assistance is available through the City’s Give2SF Housing Stabilization Program. Funding is limited and we are providing financial assistance based on each applicant’s vulnerability relative to other applicants.

Tenant counseling

• Bill Sorro Housing Program (BiSHoP)
  Call or email at (415) 513-5177 or info@bishopsf.org
  Languages: English, French, Spanish, Tagalog
• Causa Justa::Just Cause
  Call or email at (415) 487-9203 or info@cjjc.org
  Languages: Spanish, English
• Chinatown Community Development Center
  Call at (415) 984-2728
  Languages: Cantonese, Mandarin, English
• Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco
  Call Mission Office at (415) 703-8644 or Richmond Office at (415) 947-9085
  Languages: Mission Office: English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Spanish;
  Richmond: Cantonese, Mandarin, English, Russian
• SF Tenants Union
  Call or email (415) 282-6622 or info@sftu.org
• South of Market Community Action Network
  Call or email at (760) 913-8913 or tenantcounseling@somcan.org
  Languages: English, Spanish, Tagalog
• Tenderloin Housing Clinic
  Call (415) 885-3286 or email  allyn@thclinic.org
  Languages: English, Spanish

Counseling for residential hotel (SRO) tenants

• Central City SRO Collaborative
  Call (415) 775-7110
• La Voz Latina
  Call (415) 983-3970
• Chinatown SRO Collaborative or SRO Families United Collaborative
  Call (415) 984-2730
• Mission SRO Collaborative
  Call  (415) 282-6209 ext. 150 

Legal help for tenants

• Eviction Defense Collaborative
  Call or email (415) 659-9184 or legal@evictiondefense.org

Mediation (available to tenants and landlords)

• Bar Association of San Francisco Conflict Intervention Service
  Call or email (415) 782-8940 or cis@sfbar.org

General information for tenants

• Visit the San Francisco Anti-Displacement Coalition’s website 

Counseling at the San Francisco Rent Board (available to tenants and landlords)

• Call (415) 252-4631, Monday-Friday, 9 am – 12 pm and 1 pm – 4 pm

Resources for landlords

• Bar Association of San Francisco Conflict Intervention Service
  Call or email (415) 782-8940 or cis@sfbar.org
• San Francisco Apartment Association
  Call (415) 255-2288 or visit their contact page to reach out via email

 

Affordable Housing Returns To San Francisco

According to Zumper, rental prices in San Francisco have returned to their 2014 rates. In 2012, the tenancy prices in our gorgeous city started to rocket as the tech industry flooded in droves, resulting in thousands of existing tenants to be illegally evicted. So today, in 2020 due to Covid-19 and the tenancy exodus to cheaper abodes, more reasonable rental rates are starting to rear their head once again. What a relief!

What transpires from reduced and less excessive home prices, comes diversity of unique individuals that once adorned the the city by the bay. San Francisco is screaming for this long lost diversity.

Many of us have sat in despair watching hoodies invade our city, outrageously priced gentrified restaurants pop up, 50,000 more cars on the street due to peer-to-peer ride sharing rocketing pedestrian accidents & deaths three times more than any other city in the USA, and traditional craftsman homes being ripped apart and 'modernized.' We crave to see people once again in rainbow pajamas and tiaras walking around the park, just singing along and minding their own business. We want to see more skateboards, roller blades, bicycles blowing liquid bubbles out a tube so kids can pop them as they fly by. That's what San Francisco is about. The color, the originality, the 'you never know who's in costume or if that's how they really dress' curiosity.

So many have suffered from Covid-19 yet good must always come from bad. San Francisco's past decade homeless crisis has been one of the top three worst in our nation, a result of the tech influx. With property prices dropping like flies, more people can afford to live here. More people can afford to enjoy our city that offers cheap and authentic street burritos, a million and one free events that keep us all entertained and thankfully, return to San Francisco once again.

With the recent news (which we published last week) of Proposition C that taxes the wealthiest of wealthy, in order to support the homeless, and even more recent alerts about San Francisco's leaders turning discarded hotels into homes for the poverty, the tables are rapidly turning whereby the ones with little cash in their bank account are winning.

SF CARES has advocated for the needy for well over three decades, and we're ecstatic that the ones that need the most support, are receiving it. We're delighted that our city is now becoming more affordable again so diversity can leap in abundance. And we're elated that the poverty and hard workers that live month to month will soon see their suffering as a problem of the past. The Mission district will once again sport phenomenal artwork on street walls, there will be no more construction of expensive condos and our homeless numbers will finally start to dip downwards.

So for the ones that left their heart in San Francisco when 7 miles x 7 miles outpriced them, we welcome your return with open arms.

 

 

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence

 

 

SF Measure Taxing Wealthy Businesses For Homeless Services Becomes Law

Here's some good news! So good that instead of writing a summary, we're simply copying and pasting from KPIX CBS 5 Bay Area's article:

SF Measure Taxing Wealthy Businesses For Homeless Services Becomes Law; State Supreme Court Denies Challenge

Prop C, the 2018 initiative that taxes wealthy San Francisco businesses to pay for homeless services, became law Wednesday after the California Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge to it.

Prop C, which implements a .5% tax on businesses making over $50 million a year, passed in 2018 with more than 61 percent of the vote.

But the law’s been held up in the courts by lawsuits filed by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, the anti-tax lobbyists. The group claimed that the tax needed two-thirds of the vote to pass, but the state court of appeals rejected this argument back in June.

Now that the state supreme court refused to hear the case, the city can collect an estimated $300 million in fees for services supporting San Francisco’s homeless population.

And the news doesn't stop so to keep the congratulations coming, please click this link to KQED's longer article on this same topic.

The meek will inherit the earth and the wealthy will fall on their own sword. Let the good times start to roll...

Utility & Service Companies - How To Cut The Cost

We came across a recent utility bill that should not have been sent to us since we suspended services months earlier. We've kept on top of this issue and demanded refunds but we wanted to ensure you're aware of what's transpiring: Utility companies are auto charging without providing a service. It's the oldest revenue trick in the book because people don't check their bills like they should.

During this pandemic, office have closed down so utility and service bills should simultaneously have been cut to a minimum from less use. But this isn't the case and these corporations are using this time to boost their business model by charging for services they're not providing.

With one company trying to bill us monthly for no services rendered, we shut off auto pay and demanded a full refund for one month owed. They refused to comply until we emailed the CEO. Within minutes, we were given an apology and a justified refund check.

But what if you're not even screening your bills, your auto pay set ups and assuming that these companies need to be paid regardless of whether you receive minimal or no service? 

We urge you to take this issue head on. Companies making big cash during a pandemic is horrifying in itself. Taking advantage of panicked customers is not the way you should be treated. Please check through every single bill you've incurred since mid March. If you have auto pay, maybe suspend this until you're up and running again since it's easier to dispute an invoice than try gain a refund. If the utility, trash or service company has a statement on their website that all services are suspended due to shelter in place, yet you've still been charged, screenshot the web page and demand a full refund. Not a credit to your account - but an entire refund check by mail. Not a mailed refund in two weeks - a refund by check in the mail TODAY.

Cash is really tight so paying what you justifiably used is deemed the norm. But being charged an arm and a leg for services you did not receive since March is illegal.

Utility and service companies generate billions of cash in revenue per year. Their business model is based on people forgetting to turn auto pay off, or not checking their bill's accuracy, or using scare threaten tactics over hidden fees. If businesses go down the drain, the homeless population increases. We cannot afford to see this happen. Every penny counts.

Please be sensible and check the past six months of bills or you're literally throwing money in the trash, which the garbage company won't collect but will nevertheless auto charge you. And if you're in a tight financial spot at home, please complete this form to receive utility bill reductions for your house.