social questions regarding homelessness in san francisco

Hawaii, Oregon, and Arizona are among other western states where more homeless people live outside in cars and tents than indoors in shelters, despite billions spent to curb homelessness, including San Francisco’s $672 million annual budget. Law enforcement has threatened to take her to jail on an arrest warrant from another county - which she said was for minor drug possession.Īmid rising rents and a national shortage of affordable housing, more than 100,000 people are living on California’s streets. She travels lightly - a rolling suitcase, tent, dog food and two dogs - and is afraid to leave her belongings unattended. Solomon said she is bipolar and struggles with drug addiction, as well as grief from the deaths of her son and mother a year apart. The 34-year-old has been homeless for about a decade. Now, residents and nearby businesses call the police on her. Two of the sweeps she experienced this year happened in the Castro neighborhood, where she noted that civil rights activists once stood up for marginalized peoples' rights. “Who says I’m not part of the community just because I’m homeless?” she said.

Homeowners, businesses and local leaders in San Francisco are frustrated with visible signs of homelessness - which includes public streets blocked by sprawling tents and trash. Solomon is among an estimated 7,800 people without a home in San Francisco, a city that has come to be seen as an emblem of California's staggering inability to counter the homeless crisis.

They also said that city workers have thrown out peoples’ personal belongings such as medication, wheelchairs, prosthetics, laptops and cell phones, against city policy. In September, the organization and seven individuals who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless again sued San Francisco for violating the city's own policies regarding providing shelter beds. And they don’t have disappearing powers,” said Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness in San Francisco.

“You can be as tough as you want on people, that’s not going to magically create a house for them. This would have forced her to find a new tent, bedding and clothes - not to mention new identification and Social Security cards, as well as a cell phone. At least this time city workers didn't trash her belongings, she said. They tried to force her out of a public area without offering a shelter bed as required by law, Solomon said. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - On a frosty December morning, Victoria Solomon recounted how San Francisco police had rousted her awake hours earlier, and threatened to take her to jail if she didn't clear out within 10 minutes.

Social questions regarding homelessness in san francisco