Media Advisory – Mothers gather at City Hall

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For immediate release Press Contact:
May 9, 2013 Jennifer Friedenbach 415 346-3740×306 cell 577-9779
Irma Nuñez, 415-346-3740×318 cell (510)730-4050

MEDIA ADVISORY
MOTHERS GATHER AT CITY HALL TO
DEMAND HOMES

When: 12:00 Thursday, May 9, 2013

Where: City Hall steps, 1 Dr. Carlton Goodlett Place, Civic Center side.

What: Homeless mothers and their supporters will rally for Mother’s Day, demanding the passage of two initiatives that would alleviate the homeless crisis San Franciscans are facing.

San Francisco – Homeless mothers and their supporter gather at city hall Thursday to tell local
politicians that the way to honor Mother’s Day this year is to give ‘em a home.

San Francisco is at a critical juncture, where financial pressures are pushing low-income and
impoverished San Franciscans out of their homes and communities. At the same time when
rents have risen dramatically, income loss and real estate speculators are putting even more
at risk. Homelessness is at a crisis level, with the now highest wait for shelter for homeless families in
San Francisco has ever seen – families are waiting for more then 6 months just to get a bed for their
children to sleep. SFUSD reports that over 2,200 of their students are homeless – and this number does
not include the children aged 0 – 5 who are not public school students yet.

“We are calling on San Francisco to take swift action to prevent further displacement of San
Francisco families by investing in the many successful programs, that have been forced to
turn households away due to lack of resources. These intitiaves are exactly what SF needs
right now.” According to Elisa Gasca, Chinatown Community Development Center.

The Coalition on Homelessness is putting forward two proposals, one to fund homeless
prevention and rapid re-housing. This program was funded last year and staved off
homelessness for 1,300 families, but programs were only able to serve 15% of the need The
Coalition on Homelessness is calling for the funding for this program to be doubled. In
addition, the Coalition is calling for the city to fund 100 subsidies in affordable housing
buildings units going on line in 2014/15 – units that are funded by San Francisco but remain
unaffordable to homeless people.

##

Jennifer Friedenbach
Executive Director
Coalition on Homelessness, San Francisco
468 Turk Street
415-346-3740×306
fax 415-775-5639
jfriedenbach@cohsf.org
www.cohsf.org

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress… Power concedes nothing without a demand. It
never has and it never will.” —  Frederick Douglass

Bocce Ball Spring Fling – A Calling Card For Justice

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We would like to invite you to a day in the sun at our Spring Time FUNdraiser

Join us for an amazing afternoon of Bocce Ball

Fun For The Whole Family – BBQ – Kid-friendly games

olayerdrawingWhen: Saturday, June 8th 2013 – 10AM until 2PM

Where: Aquatic Park (Beach and Hyde below Ghirardelli Square)

Everyone is Welcome – Bring a friend or two!

Click to download the SPONSORSHIP FORM

For More information please call 415-346-3740 ext 307

Download registration form here: REGISTRATION FORM

Homeless Bill of Rights Clears the Assembly Judiciary Committee

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April 24, 2013
Civil Rights, COH, Criminalization of Homeless and Poverty, Housing Justice, Human Rights, State Policy
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Western Regional Advocacy Project members and allies were met with support and a huge victory on Tuesday 4/23 in Sacramento, California’s capitol. AB 5, The Homeless Bill of Rights passed through the Assembly Judiciary Committee with 7 yes votes. Despite strong opposition, our grassroots movement of homeless and poor people mobilized hundreds of people to rally and lobby the democratic members who voted in support of AB 5. Our base of organizations across California and Oregon have been working together to build a broad base of support for this much needed new path forward to address our collective economic problems. The data, language, solutions, and decisions on the bill have all been made in a coordinated coalitional structure that reflect the collective values and work that make up WRAP.“This signals a victory for the people!” said Jessica Bartholomew of The Western Center on Law and Poverty, co-sponsors of AB 5. “The support of the democratic members of the Assembly Judiciary Committee for AB 5 Homeless Bill of Rights is not only a testament of our hard work but it is also a statement from our elected leaders that they understand, support, and believe in the intent of AB 5 – to stop the criminalization of homelessness and instead address our collective problems with pro-active and lasting solutions.” 

 

WRAP members have been gathering data and exposing a trend in anti-homeless legislation aimed at citing and incarcerating homeless people as the wrong response for California to take in its approach to ending the humanitarian crisis that is homelessness. AB 5 calls for the creation of hygiene centers, protections for homeless youth, and access to counsel during times of civil prosecution for being homeless. Opponents of this bill say that municipalities should be allowed to choose their own approaches.“Anytime you respond to homelessness with law enforcement, you are responding with criminalization,” says Lisa Marie Alatorre of the SF Coalition On Homelessness. “When you respond with increased services, abundant housing, accessible health care, and nourishing food, you will not need law enforcement to respond. We believe that all Californians can agree that criminalization is not an acceptable approach. We are excited for California to lead the country in turning the tide towards a new way forward to addressing poverty and homelessness.” 

Our bill now moves on to the Assembly Appropriations Committee where WRAP members and Assemblymember Tom Ammiano, who is championing AB 5 in the legislature, will be responding to the questions and concerns regarding cost and funding for the legislation. We are confident that AB 5 will prove to be a huge benefit to California and not the financial strain the opposition claims.

http://eepurl.com/yB2b5

 

March: Vote Yes on Prop C & E

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October 29, 2012
Action Alert, Housing, Housing Justice, Uncategorized
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JOIN THE MARCH!

for prop ‘C’ & ‘E’

Unite with the Coalition on Homelessness
in support of prop ‘C’ & ‘E’.

March with us • Pass out flyers • Reach voters!

Monday, Nov 5th, 10AM

Market & Powell

from the

Cable Car turn around

to

City Hall!

Raise your voices in support of
AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR ALL!
for info: 415-346-3740

The Coalition on Homelessness

ENDORSES THE FOLLOWING LOCAL PROPOSITIONS ON THE NOV. 6TH BALLOT

Proposition C

This is the Housing Trust fund which will generate revenue in excess of $1 Billion over a 30 year period. This revenue will help provide affordable housing. With the dissolution of redevelopment funds (San Francisco’s primary source of affordable housing dollars) we at the Coalition on Homelessness are confronted daily with the human impact of the housing crisis and see firsthand just how urgently this funding is needed.

Proposition E

This is the progressive revenue initiative. It will reform the way business taxes are assessed in San Francisco, relieving the unfair burden on small business and, instead, requiring that big businesses and wealthy corporations pay their fair share. It also establishes a very progressive business licensing fee that will exempt small businesses altogether and again place the bulk of the taxes on wealthy corporations.

The two propositions are closely linked

THE HOUSING TRUST FUND IN PROPOSITION C WILL BE FUNDED BY THE REVENUE GENERATED BY PROPOSITION

Dear District 5 Candidates:

By
October 29, 2012
Civil Rights, Criminalization of Homeless and Poverty, Human Rights
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As you may know, the Coalition on Homelessness organizes homeless people to create permanent solutions to homelessness and poverty while protecting the human rights of those forced to remain on the streets.

Below is a platform to address homelessness in the Haight Ashbury; we are very hopeful you will sign.  Also included are the results from some research we did among destitute individuals who are residing outdoors in the Haight which informed the platform.

We are looking forward to publishing the results in our newspaper, the Street Sheet.  We will be publishing a list of those who are signing, those who are not signing, and of course, taking a lead from the League of Women Voters, a list of those who did not bother to respond!

That said we are completely confident you will respond and we are very much looking forward to your response!

Download the Platform Below

HOBOS PANEL SATURDAY

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October 12, 2012
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Hobos to Street People
Artists’ Response to Homelessness
from the New Deal to the Present

Panel Discussion: October 12 from 2 – 4 pm
Show runs September 15 to November 9, 2012
Richmond Art Center
2540 Barrett Avenue
Richmond, CA 94804

Gallery walk through tour led by hobos to Street People curator Art Hazelwood.

Panel discussion: Homeless People’s Bill of Rights

Welcome: City of Richmond Mayor, Gayle McLaughlin.

Panelists: Paul Boden, Western Regional Advocacy Project, Boona Cheema, Building Opportunities of Self-Sufficiency, Jennifer Freidenbach, Coalition on Homelessness, Yvonne Nair, Saffron Street

This timely exhibit features the works of 30 artists working over the last 75 years to document the tragedy of homelessness and the government’s role in the crisis. through painting, printmaking, photograhopy, and mixed media, Depression-era and contemporary artists offer glimpses of life on the street and show many similarities between the eras. Artists include Rockwell Kent, Dorothea Lange, Fritz Eichenberg, Kiki Smith, Sandow Birk, the San Francisco Print Collective.

NO TASERS FOR THE SFPD

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October 7, 2012
Human Rights, Local Policy, SF Police Commission, SFPD
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Here They Go Again…

Despite evidence that Tasers are not effective at reducing officer-involved shootings,

SFPD is trying to adopt tasers in response to recent officer-involved shootings of mentally ill residents.

The San Francisco Police Department wants officers who are a part of a special team that has been trained to de-escalate crisis situations with people with mental illness, ARMED WITH TASERS.

Tasers are dangerous weapons, and their use has resulted in the deaths of 533 people in the United States.

The SFPD should improve its interactions with mentally ill people by fully implementing the Crisis Intervention Team program. Mandated by the Police Commission more than a year and a half ago, to date, only 3 of the 8 Crisis Intervention Team trainings approved by the commission have been completed.

De-escalation techniques like Crisis Intervention Teams are the only truly “less-than-lethal option” for police interactions with people with mental illness.

No to tasers for SFPD

SF NO_TASERS Collective

Task Force meeting Tuesday October 095:30 PM – 7:30 PM

SF Main Library, (Larkin & Grove), near Civic Center BART Station, 3rd floor in the Paley Conference Room

We are a working group comprised of 16 community activists, meeting every Tuesday at the SF Public Library, to defeat the 4th attempt of SFPD (since 2004) to secure a contract with Tasers International, INC.

and yes to competency in interacting with people with mental illness!

Sign the No Taser Petition

Volunteers Needed

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September 25, 2012
COH
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The following volunteer positions are currently available:

Front Desk

The Coalition hours are 9AM – 5PM, Monday through Friday. Shifts are flexible.

Citation Assistance

This position is Monday and Wednesday from 10AM – Noon.

Contact Miguel Carrera at 415-346-3740 Ext. 319 or e-mail him at mcarrera@cohsf.org

These are not paid positions

 

Please stop by our offices at any time during business hours. We are located at:

468 Turk Street – San Francisco, CA