Affordable Homes Being Hidden in San Francisco

We recently found out that there are around 2000 unoccupied affordable housing units in San Francisco. With our upcoming Showering the Homeless campaign, whereby we'll get the homeless back into working society - one resume, shower, job and home at a time - we had one piece of the puzzle still unresolved: Securing long term affordable housing with a specific strategy for these individuals. There are multiple ways to secure this level of housing but we really wanted to use one system, for a seamless process.

We searched high and low, spoke to many organizations and discovered a few things:

• The DAHLIA government housing program only runs on a lottery system - a process that obviously wouldn't be compatible with our Showering the Homeless campaign.
• San Francisco Department of Homelessness & Supportive Housing (HSH) has no contact information available but we hunted down the director's details. After many emails and Twitter DMs, we discovered that the director left the organization a few days ago and we're not even sure if anyone's currently at the helm of the HSH.
• From walking the streets of our gorgeous city, we came across multiple 'luxury apartment' signs with construction underway. In a city where the poverty levels are excruciating yet the most condensed billionaires on the planet reside in this same region, why are more luxury homes being approved? There are also various affordable housing apartments being erected but 'affordable' comes with a five tier system based on demographics and socioeconomic of the individual - it's a complex process.
• We know the ratio of homeless vs. affordable homes is lacking the correct percentage balance but something else seemed off kilter, and we couldn't place our finger on it.

Each time, we kept hitting a dead end until a random conversation with an organization answered multiple questions. We discovered that San Francisco's Planning Department receives applications by property owners, filing to convert their SRO (single room occupancy) building into a hotel. Here's the key: The owner always keeps a few units aside i.e. of the 100 SROs, they'll file 80 rooms to be used for hotel guests and keep 20 affordable housing units for themselves, yet the 20 units will not be available to rent as they never hit the market.

We spoke with the city's Planning Department who stated there was only one active case for an SRO conversion to a hotel: case 2018-002124prj at 54 Fourth St). Just over a dozen rooms would be kept aside for affordable housing - but never available to rent. As a result, the owner would happily pay a conversion fee which is the same thing as a penalty. They would rather be subject to a fine than rent out the units since they don't want tenants, don't want the legal responsibility that comes with tenants and certainly don't want to rent control their units. So they cough up a penalty and withhold the units instead. Here's a great story about it in the San Francisco Public Press - the article is three years old but still relevant today. It's the property owner's right to not rent but it should be a legal requirement, passed by Mayor London Breed, stating it's mandatory for them to market these SROs. This is paramount based on the housing crisis and lack of affordable homes, at an all time high.

Those units could be used even as a halfway, temporary home for our Showering the Homeless program, while the individuals are in transition of their first year, after returning to employment. Even though there's only one active hotel conversion case at the Planning Department, we're aware that there are dozens more that have been already green lit for hotel allowance, which equates to around 2000 vacant SROs, maybe even more. You can read more about SROs in this link.

SF CARES has a very long history of righting wrongs and advocacy achievements for the poverty stricken. We'll push to have these 2000+ SROs made available, possibly even to our program recipients.

Will you join us and/or help us? Will you donate to our Showering the Homeless program? Of course you will! Thank you in advance.

Saint Paulus Rummage Sale Results

Saint Paulus Lutheran Church ran their annual Rummage Sale on Saturday 14th March. With Coronavirus's social distancing suggestion, we weren't sure if the sale would be a success, flop or somewhere in between. Miraculously, from a LOT of praying to God for support, Saint Paulus received $1300 in donations.

Some of this cash was donated by local businesses that dropped money into Pastor Dan Solberg's hands. How come? Simply because people are in slight disarray at the moment, others aren't sure whether to be curious or concerned...and in our case, Saint Paulus attracted the ones that are all about paying forward in our community, helping each other and lending a hand.

We applaud Saint Paulus for most likely hosting one of San Francisco's last social gatherings for a few weeks. The funds will be used to send two women representatives to this year's ELCA Conference.

Next Door - Someone Needs You!

Please check out Nextdoor and their new Help Map - need help, can volunteer help? Here's the link: https://nextdoor.com/help_map 

 

Sitting at home, wearing pajamas, taking a stroll, working remotely, fridge overstocked with food, TV is perpetually on the news channel? Even though we're in a pandemic, anyone that compares this to a real war on a battlefield, is completely delusional. This is a very different kind of situation that we're in but cannot compare to millions that lost their life, fighting in a bloody battle.

 

So please let us be realistic. The economy is in a bad state, people are losing their jobs yet the governments (federal and state) are doing all they can to keep the roof over heads, of those who are financially in a dire situation. It's a controlled mayhem that will be resolved.

 

In the meantime, if you have the ability to help a neighbor for even 20 minutes a day - a phone call check in, a run to the store to buy them medication or groceries, a quick chat through the window (keeping six feet apart), please do it. Join NextDoor and do your part.

 

Doors are closed yet opportunities are now open. Let us all help each other!

 

 

Closed Doors Mean Open Opportunities - Help Others

Our partner, Saint Paulus, sent out an email blast to their members yesterday. Just because doors must be kept closed doesn't mean opportunities can't be widened. Being at home may seem like a novelty at first, but after a few days, the confinement starts to talk a toll. Not just to stretch your legs, but break away from the overinflated media and see if there's anything you can do to pay forward. Here's what Saint Paulus sent out. We advise you to click their subscribe link and sign up to weekly emails:

*Let Us Turn Back Time*

 

The media has incited this pandemic into pandemonium purely for advertising gain…and they won. Yet think to yourself - how many of us have seen looting, gun wars, street fights and riots? Most likely none of us. How many of us have seen communities singing and group exercising from their apartment balconies? Most of us. How many celebrities have started to quote excerpts from the Old and New Testament? Surprisingly, quite a few. How many have read that Israelis are already preparing for tomorrow's Shabbat, most of who usually spend Saturdays on the beach or at the malls? Did you know that Israel's nearly 9 million Jews, Christians and Muslims are shutting down for the weekend…and praying.

The economy is in a temporary bad state, the media is yet again spinning more out of control…but most importantly, humanity seems to have taken the compassionate and prayer route. We’ve all realized that we have no power. Only God has that. So we’ve succumbed.

From walking around San Francisco the past two days, the city is full of calm people catching up on possibly long overdue chats, skateboarders are enjoying the roads to themselves and stunningly, across the globe, heavily polluted cities are now witnessing their first blue skies in many years since transportation was banned. It feels like the planet’s reverted back to a few decades past when everyone lived simpler lives. It feels like the 1970’s all over again.

So let us, as the amazing Saint Paulus Lutheran Church community, embrace the clock that’s currently in the past and turn lemons into lemonade. Because we all move forward, together, when we pay back. Here are a few suggestions that everyone can participate in, so we’re helping others: The poverty, elderly, ones that aren’t coping with home confinement:

Feed The Poor: The homeless are being hit just as hard. Food resources are low since there’s smaller foot traffic and daily meal programs have stopped. If you can get out your home, make up a food bag (sandwiches, bag of rice etc.) and hand it six feet from a homeless person. Have extra bars of soap? Hand them out. Their gratitude will make your heart sing. Not only will you exercise, you’ll know you helped the homeless in more ways than you can imagine.


Phone Someone: You may have an elderly relative, neighbor or friend. They might be riding out home confinement quite well, but they may not be. The only way to find out is by calling, Facetiming or Skyping them. Lend an ear, listen to them, make them laugh, trade stories. Keep the conversation going. Even 30 minutes of a daily chin-wag will be good for both your spiritual well-being.


Volunteer Groups: Various thoughtful people on Nextdoor.com have individually created support groups whereby you can join, and be assigned a task. Whether it’s picking up groceries or medication for someone who can’t get out or walking an elderly person’s dog. Join the group, tell them which area you live in and they’ll be in touch with very simple, yet important pay forward tasks. Also check out Project Open Hand for volunteer jobs.


Over Shoppers: We all know many people hoarded, by buying out supermarket shelves while not considering others that sensible shopped. If you have extra supplies you seriously don’t need, post them on NextDoor.com, Facebook, Twitter, Craigslist.com or email your local friends. If you can afford to give these items away, then do so. If you can’t, then sell them at the same price you purchased them for. The guilt of hoarding will be replaced with the knowledge that you saw your error, and fixed it.


Feed Your Soul: Pray, pray and pray. The Torah and New Testament are living, breathing scriptures and are always timely for today. Pick up your Bible and read, find commonalities in what you’re experiencing to our ancestors, and fall back in love with the Bible again. If this is the one time when the world needs God to help, it’s today. Speak to Him, build your personal relationship with Him and ask Him to give you what you need, right here and now. He’s always listening and has waited a LONG time for us to collectively talk to Him, daily.

The media only wins when they can capitalize on drama, controversy, crisis and mayhem. They don’t win when there’s peace, surrendering, praying, helping others and we’re in a kinder state of mind so aren’t obsessing over the news. Being up so speed on the news is important but please minimize this to a few minutes twice a day…and start to live your new change of lifestyle instead. It’s better for the soul and connects you even more to God. One day, everyone will know why this happened to us. For now, don’t question the ‘why,’ just question which philanthropic feat you’ll be doing today, from the above list.

If you have other list suggestions, please email these to us.
We’ll also post this on our Facebook page so you can comment there.

Amen.

Prayer for a Pandemic

Shared to us by Saint Paulus Lutheran Church.

Prayer for a Pandemic

May we who are merely inconvenienced

Remember those whose lives are at stake. 

     May we who have no risk factors

     Remember those most vulnerable.

May we who have the luxury of working from home

Remember those who must choose between preserving their health or making their rent. 

     May we who have the flexibility to care for our children when their schools close

     Remember those who have no options.

May we who have to cancel our trips

Remember those that have no safe place to go.

     May we who are losing our margin money in the tumult of the economic market

     Remember those who have no margin at all.

May we who settle in for a quarantine at home

Remember those who have no home.

     As fear grips our country,

     Let us choose love.

During this time when we cannot physically wrap our arms around each other,

let us yet find ways to be the loving embrace of God to our neighbors. Amen 

St. Mary’s Academy, Portland, Oregon

Doors Always Stay Open - Even On A Lockdown

Saint Paulus just posted a Facebook update:

At a time like this when the media incited fear (solely to increase readership) which accelerated lock-downs around the planet, Saint Paulus maintained one stance: We keep walking the same road, together. Our goals don't change, our vision never falters and our faith rises in always advocating for the poverty. With people obscenely hoarding food, taking away from others that sensible shopped, these individuals didn't consider that the homeless are still homeless. They're still without food and now are suffering even more without everyday resources. Less people on the streets to give them a dollar, less foot traffic to share food, less garbage to find possibly a pair of discarded shoes. Please adhere to social distancing, but before you pop out, take some food with you. Drop it six feet away from a homeless person. Got spare time to spring clean? Bag up old clothes and drop them by the public trash. Just be kind, thoughtful and keep paying forward. We may be on a lock-down but we can always keep the door open. Blessings.

We live in a society whereby one disruption causes overinflated havoc, so let's review a few examples based on situations we've self inflicted the past few days:

• Irritated by having to wait 15 minutes longer than usual for $18 sandwiches, just prior to the mandatory Coronavirus lock-down.
• Aggravated because you have to work from the comforts of your home in pajamas, and meetings need to be moved online.
• Frustration from being on hold for an hour with the local pizza store about ordering a pie, even though you achieved an impressive amount of work during this hold time...in slippers, in bed.
• Moaning about an increased work load yet refuse to delegate.
• Extreme anxiety that seven bars of soap may not get you through the next three weeks.

 Now let us view this from a different angle through a homeless person's eyes:

• The homeless would spend those 15 minutes buying two weeks worth of food for $18 and share this with at least one other displaced person. Those 15 minutes would be a very happy occasion and $18 would feel like $1,000,000.
• Around 30% of homeless have a degree, are newly street living and have no addictions. They would relish being back in working society and wouldn't care where their office/desk was.
• Knowing the phone lines were jammed for pizza requests, they'd hang up because a: why stress the pizza company and stall existing orders? and b: another less busy restaurant would appreciate the business instead.
• The homeless run a survival-of-the-fittest yet also a collaborative society. If they had an increased work load, collaborative 'no ego' team work would immediately be utilized.
• The homeless would have traded or given away six bars of soap by the time you paid for your seventh.

Yesterday, an employee of our partnership organizations was on the bus. She was heading home after San Francisco announced the lock-down. On this virtually empty bus, a guy sat in the next chair to hers, wearing his mask. When confronted about this irony (the mask - no social distance - an empty bus), he refused to move, claiming he was a healthcare professional and this employee was beneath his social status. His ego, chauvinism and lack of common sense is standard practice of what we experience daily. After getting off the bus, this employee saw a few homeless people. They were all six feet apart from each other and passerbys.

The homeless, for all their faults and quirks, have great common sense, street smarts, logic and always say please and thank you. The ones with homes, bank balances and job security usually do not. Over the next few weeks, be grateful for the roof over your head, cash to pay the monthly bills and even the basics of job security. But always keep that door open to help the needy.

Support 'Showering the Homeless with Jobs' Program

SF CARES is running an incredibly powerful, new initiative and we need your help to accelerate it. We all know that San Francisco has the worst poverty crisis in history and this has turned our city into the Disneyland for the homeless i.e. if you're poverty stricken, come to SF for free food, free clean needles etc. With so much cash floating around, it's being dispersed incorrectly - easily proven by the rapidly growing homeless numbers. In short, multiple non profits are profiting off the poverty, receiving grants/donations and certainly not distributing it ethically. If they were, the homeless statistics would decrease. But they're not.

SF CARES has a long history of advocating with the displaced. Why are we experts in this field? Because our team comprises of individuals who were homeless, are homeless and advocate for homeless. So we jammed our brains together and created a brand new feat to truly eliminate the poverty numbers by getting the displaced back into work and new homes.

How are we doing this?

One of our partners, who is within the SF CARES family umbrella, will have showers at their new church site. The site: 999 Eddy Street. The partner: Saint Paulus Lutheran Church.

When Saint Paulus returns to their Eddy Street church later this year, the site includes multiple facilities i.e. a sanctuary (obviously), a kitchen, office space for rent, conference rooms and....showers with laundry facilities.

The aim is that the homeless hand over their resume when they come to Saint Paulus for a shower. While showering, SF CARES will match their resume to an open job position. They'll come out the shower, wear donated office attire clothes and head to their new job. The employer will set the new recruit on a 30 or 60 day trial (quite standard for new employees) and pay for their hotel (plus stipend). This provides immediate stability.

During their work probation, SF CARES will secure affordable housing and after the probation, the individual will now have a full time job and roof over their head. The more we reduce the number of people living on the streets, the more we publicize the numbers/statistics and PR this to the media. The more that other churches (and religious orgs, universities, schools etc with showers) hear about our success, they'll replicate our blueprint formula until this runs nationwide.

Instead of having a shower and being sent back onto the streets, our showers will actually be preparing the displaced - having a shower just before heading to their first day of work. This is empowering, gives hope and excitement of a new door opening. We know 40% of people living on the streets have the credentials and qualifications to jump back into the work force. They're recently homeless and have no addictions, nor are 'street life conditioned.' That's our initial target market.

What We've Achieved To Date

• SF CARES has secured a govt employment partnership with jobs available at non profits. This is going to be an easy transition for the homeless, by working with colorful like minded individuals. 
• SF CARES has secured dozens of volunteers, that'll help us daily in matching resumes to jobs and candidates to homes.
• SF CARES will receive donated work and non work clothing, alongside items to furnish new homes. This ongoing donation has been guaranteed.
• SF CARES is talking with a govt housing partner and also a national corporation that works with affordable housing. Once we've secured a deal with either or both institutions, we'll post an update.
• SF CARES is in discussions with a web company to produce either the web portal/website or app - the software that'll be available to other orgs nationwide, when they're ready to use our blueprint formula.

Won't you support us in our feat? One resume, one shower, one job and one home at a time.

Vision Event - Free Eye Test/Glasses

This is truly one of our most warm, fuzzy events that SF CARES runs - every other month. For years, we've run one of the city's most popular free eye test and free prescription glasses programs.

Every month, dozens of individuals and medical providers/specialists call us daily, asking when the next event will be. Today is our Vision Eye event, so the next one is tentatively scheduled for the 1st Tuesday in May. NB: The first Tuesday of every other month is when our Vision Event takes place at Saint Paulus Church.

How it works: The first 45 people in line receive a ticket, wait for their number to be called, see our eye doctor for a test and within two weeks, be able to pick up their new prescription glasses.

The cost: Zero.

The thank you prayers to SF CARES and God: In abundance

So if you have eyesight problems and can't afford vision medical fees, please come down.

If you have glasses (prescription or none) and don't need these anymore, please donate them for our Vision Event. You can drop them off Monday - Thursday between 10.00 am - 4.00 pm. We greatly appreciate your support.

These photos, from today, are of Jordan Ward who heads up SF CARES and runs the Vision Eye event.