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.”