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HEAVENLY SOULS – Another Refreshing Trip Outside the Box

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September 15, 2012
Community, Health, Housing, Local Policy, Local Services, Opinion, Uncategorized
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From Streatfood in SOMA

to

Street Food in the Tenderloin 

Since his appointment as Director of the Mayor’s office of Housing Opportunity, Partnerships, and Engagement, or HOPE, former Supervisor Bevan Dufty has rarely been accused of thinking inside the politically acceptable box. In fact, many of his proposals push the envelope and challenge many of the tired, off-the-rack schemes that many of our tired, off-the-rack politicians drag out every few years – usually around election time – and try to re-sell.

First, there was wet housing for chronic alcoholics. This proposal was bound to baffle the local policy makers simply because it has a proven, successful track record. In Seattle, the program has saved the city millions in emergency medical care and police response, and has put many of the people it serves on the road to recovery and productive lives.  Read More

The Ones Who Live As They Can

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September 15, 2012
Civil Rights, Community, Federal Policy, Health, Housing, Local Policy, Media, Narrative, Opinion
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Ian Smith, a resident at the Homeless Camp

      By: Ian Smith       

There has been a lot of commotion in my life lately. All of it due to the fact I was, as of Tuesday, a resident of the homeless encampment located on Caltrans property at Fifth and King St. Life was gravy……

“I’d wake up in the morning and extricate myself from my makeshift “Conestoga style wagon”, shoot up a big ol’ syringe of methamphetamine, terrorize a few locals by offering them a slug of liquor out of a wet paper bag after which a few of the neighbors and myself would get together and play “used-needle darts”, gambling for cigarettes while shirt-less barefoot children run through the broken glass and needle strewn line of fire. Then we’d see what we had left for breakfast in our bucket o’ dead rats located right next to our openly aired toilets. mmm Good!”

……This is the way they would like you to think of us apparently. The only problem is it is the farthest thing from the truth and it is not your fault for thinking any differently. This is the image the media you rely upon to give you the truth in the stories they report portrayed of us. Well, to put it in the manner of Samuel L. Jackson’s character Jules in the movie “Pulp Fiction”, ‘Are you finished? Well allow me to retort!’. You do not have to be a genius to perceive the narrow minded view the writer of “Big SoMa Homeless Camp Cleaned Out” Kevin Fagen has toward the homeless. (as seen on the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle) It’s much like many of the people online who posted comments with brilliant gems like “ Lock em up forever”. Wow. Intelligent. That lock ‘em up attitude reminiscent of anything? I am floored people in this day and age can even begin to nurture a philosophy as bent as that. So let’s use me as an example. Let us put my head on the proverbial chopping block. I don’t have a criminal record and would have no involvement with law enforcement if I did not live on the streets. I know many who are of the same “ilk”. What are you going to lock us up for? Not being able to afford outlandish San Francisco rent prices? Being told we are “over-qualified” for the majority of the jobs we apply for and very seldom get? Not having the ability to clean up or maintain an orderly appearance to be able to find work in the first place? Oh I know! Not having computers or electricity to power them with in order to be able to apply for jobs online, which is the only way you can apply anymore. That’s an arrestable offense right? Please. If I had received one offer, one promise of a job no matter what it was out of the literally hundreds for which I had applied, I would not be here today. Read More

Police and CHP Sweep Homeless Camp Near Cal Train Station

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August 29, 2012
Civil Rights, Community, Families, Health, Housing, Local Policy
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Early last week, the Coalition on Homelessness learned of the planned sweep of a homeless camp near the Cal Train station at 4th and King.

Tucked beneath an overpass on the 280 Freeway just east of the Sixth Street ramps, the residents of this community of around 40 people have lived peacefully alongside their housed neighbors for years. The camp consisted of approximately 15 tents, several mobile structures, and a few cars and other vehicles. The encampment was located near Cal Train’s northern terminus and the inbound terminus of the N-Judah line only two blocks from AT&T Park; tens of thousands of visitors and commuters have passed by or over daily without giving it much thought. That’s exactly how the folks living there wanted it. Read More

COHSF Volunteers and Staff Celebrate Budget Victory

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May 29, 2012
Budget, Community, Families, Health, Local Policy, Local Services, Shelter System
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On May 24, 2012 Mayor Ed Lee announced a full restoration of proposed budget cuts to the Department of Public Health, a restoration of Ryan White AIDS funding, and a 1% increase to non-profit contracts.

Join the Coalition and our allies in urging the Mayor and Board of Supervisors to take the next right step by replacing lost Federal and State monies and beginning to restore our non-profits and social service agencies to their needed staffing levels after years of devastating budget cuts.

Please come to our workgroup meetings and add your voice to ours.

 

Coalition Volunteers and Staff celebrate Mayor Lee's restoration of DPH Budget Cuts

 

 

 

 

Study Shows High Death Disparity Among Homeless

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July 15, 2011
Community, Federal Policy, Health, Local Services, Media Justice
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By Healthy Living News


A new study shows that homeless individuals, especially those suffering from mental illness or substance abuse, have a death rate significantly higher and a life expectancy that is significantly shorter than those with homes. The study, recently published in the journal The Lancet, collected data on people in homeless shelters using Denmark’s nationwide homeless registry. The data consisted of 32,711 homeless people, aged 16 years and up, who where homeless between 1999 and 2009.


To determine the rate of death and life expectancy, researchers separated the homeless registry data into several groups. These included those with psychiatric disorders, those with a history of substance abuse, those with a dual diagnosis of both, and those who had no such diagnosis.

Researchers then compared their rate of death, or mortality, to that of the general population. They discovered that for those homeless, the rate of death was 6.7 times higher for women and 5.6 times higher for men. The group with substance abuse disorders had the highest mortality of any of the homeless groups, followed by those with a dual diagnosis. Information on the causes of death, when available, showed that suicide and violence accounted for more than a quarter of them.


”There was a larger disparity in life expectancy between the homeless shelter population and the general population than previous studies have found,” said study author, Dr. Sandra Nielsen.



The study also revealed that homelessness can cut short lives for those who are still young. For those homeless, age 15-24 years, their estimated life expectancy was, respectively, 21 and 17 years lower than men and women in the general population.



Regardless of age, however, Dr. Nielsen said that the death disparity confirms that homeless people living in shelters constitute a high-risk, marginalized population whose physical and mental health needs require more attention.



In an accompanying commentary in The Lancet, Professor John Geddes and Dr. Seena Fazel of Oxford University wrote that more work needs to be done to end death disparities among the homeless. That includes improved integrated psychiatric and substance abuse treatment to better address the problem.

Another concern regarding the study was its country of origin. Denmark provides free health care and a substantial social-service and housing support infrastructure. These should be helping alleviate death disparities among the homeless.



The Lancet commentary also pointed out potential cross-border differences in data. 
”International comparison of studies of homelessness,” it noted…”is made harder by the different social and housing systems between developing and more developed countries, and between small well-organized and highly socially integrated Nordic countries and larger more heterogeneous countries such as the USA.”



The commentary added that the situation is likely to be worse in countries with less well-organized welfare systems.



And fixing the death disparity problem for the homeless is now even a more daunting challenge. The crash in housing markets and the recent recession has increased homelessness in the U.S. and Europe, all while social services are being cut due to severe government financial restrictions.

Governor Brown’s Budget Cuts: Women’s Lives on the Chopping Block, What's wrong with the cuts and how to not make them

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May 15, 2011
Budget, Health, State Policy
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Governor Brown’s Budget Cuts: Women’s Lives on the Chopping Block
Sisters United Front for Survival

Citing California’s $26 billion shortfall, the state legislature on March 15 approved $9 billion in cuts to an already-frayed safety net. Hardest hit in the flood of reductions are women. Lawmakers justified their actions as painful but necessary. But, the truth is that in this economic crisis, as always, the state is supporting greed over need, sacrificing the most vulnerable while protecting massive business sub-sidies. It’s time to change priorities!

  • Balancing the budget on the backs of women and the disadvantaged

Most severely impacted is Cal-WORKs, which provides cash assis-tance and job training to the poor, most of whom are single mothers. Over 1,000 families in San Francisco would lose assistance in San Francisco and grants would be reduced by almost $100 a month. The loss of other services adds to the misery of women and the indigent. Hacked are medical programs, in-home care, mental health, early childhood and developmentally disabled services.
The state is also slashing the budgets of community colleges and the California State University system which serve workingclass students, a majority of whom are women. And, a campaign to vilify public workers and their hard-earned pensions threatens the well-being of those lucky enough to have jobs.

  • Switch the priorities: Tax the Rich and Corporations!

Welfare moms have long been a Republican target as a symbol of “Big Government.” But the hack-and-slash mayhem emanating from Sacramento now is Democrat-led. With the June special election eliminated, the Governor will be looking for ways to address the remaining deficit. More budget cuts are likely, possibly totaling as much as $12.5 billion. Once again, workers and the poor will pay and pay and pay. All this because neither party will call for big business to pay its fair share!
The deficit exists in large measure because corporations and banks are paying less and less into the system. Wealth is being transferred from the working class to the richest few.

  • It’s time to reverse the flow!
  • Enact an oil severance tax California, where Chevron is headquartered, is the only state in the entire world that doesn’t tax extraction (a 9.9% tax = $1.2 bil./yr.)
  • Close corporate tax loopholes ($3-5 bil./yr.)
  • Eliminate war expenditures (CA share = $14.5 bil./yr.). U.S. Out of Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya!
  • Reduce prison spending Release all women incarcerated for defending themselves and their children from their abusers; cancel the Three Strikes law.
  • Stop privatization and contracting out; use union labor ($34 bil./yr.)
  • Reinstate the top income tax bracket to 11% ($4 bil./yr.)

We demand the State restore social services regardless of immigration status; expand CalWORKs, provide childcare & job training!

Issued by: Sisters United Front for Survival (A project of Radical Women) 415-864-1278, baradicalwomen@earthlink.net, www.radicalwomen.org

A Message from the Chair of the Shelter Monitoring Committee

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May 15, 2011
Community, Health, Housing, Local Policy, Local Services, Shelter System
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A Message from the Chair…
By L.J. Cirilo

I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself and personally invite my fellow d6 neighbors, anyone currently or formerly residing in a city funded shelter, all shelter service providers and stakeholders, along with any other concerned community members who may be interested in learning more about the conditions homeless people are facing in the current shelter system and the overall work of the Committee, to attend the next public meeting of the Shelter Monitoring Committee.

We will be discussing some very important topics such as the 2011-2012 Budget as it relates to homeless services, I will be presenting a draft budget letter for the full Committee’s approval, as well as the presentation of the Jan-Feb-March 2011 Quarterly Report. To find a full agenda for May’s meeting and more about the SMC please go to: http://www.sfgov3.org/index.aspx?page=2779

Mission Statement
The Shelter Monitoring Committee is an independent vehicle charged with documenting the conditions of shelters and resource centers to improve the health, safety, and treatment of residents, clients, staff, and the homeless community. The Committee’s mission is to undertake this work recognizing individual human rights and promoting a universal standard of care for shelters and resource centers in the City and County of San Francisco.