(01-03) 21:02 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- Since the Israeli offensive against Gaza began a week ago, 18-year-old San Francisco City College student Ahmed Alkhatib can check in with his family only once a day- and that's if the phones work.
Otherwise, Alkhatib can only hope that his parents, two brothers and two sisters will stay safe in their Gaza home as they watch bombs fall around them. And, much like tens of thousands of people around the world did today, he can protest.
Alkhatib and hundreds of others who flocked to Market Street in San Francisco this evening said they were there to protest the Israeli ground invasion, which began earlier today. But they also had their sights set closer to home: Many said they want to urge American leaders and citizens to oppose any financial support of the Israeli government, by boycotting and divesting from companies that support the Middle East state.
"I do feel powerless and guilty, because I am part of the (American) establishment that is financing and supplying the occupation," said Alkhatib, a Pacifica resident who came to the United States three years ago as an exchange student and was unable return to Gaza because of ongoing violence.
"But I also feel powerful," he said. "If I wasn't here, there would be nobody to talk about my family, nobody to tell, through my family's story, that the violence is not just compromising one family, it is compromising thousands."The San Francisco rally began with several hundred demonstrators gathering around 5 p.m. at Market and Powell streets. By 6 p.m., the crowd - many of them waving Palestinian flags and wearing head scarves - had swelled to about 500, and marched up Market Street to City Hall. There were no counter protests, as there have been in days past.
Many protesters, such as San Francisco resident Ateyeh Ateyeh, were Palestinian.
"This is the least we could do to protest our government's action," said the U.S. citizen, who fled the West Bank in 1989 and brought his wife and four children to the rally. "We don't want to say, 'Support the Palestinian's ... cause.' We just want to say, 'Stay neutral, stop sending American planes and our tax dollars.'"
Many simply urged peace.
Francesca Rosa, a 54-year-old San Francisco resident, held an olive branch in one hand and a Palestinian flag in the other. And Natalie Hrizi, also of San Francisco, garnered loud cheers as she spoke to the crowd through a bullhorn.
"Palestine isn't just about Palestine, it's about all of us who stand for peace," she said. "It's about all of us who stand against racism and for justice."
The San Francisco rally - the fifth last week - was small and peaceful compared to many elsewhere in the world.
In Europe, tens of thousands of people demonstrated in major cities on Saturday against Israel's bombardment of Gaza.
In London, at least 10,000 people marched past Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Downing Street residence to a rally in Trafalgar Square. Outside Downing Street, hundreds of protesters threw shoes at the gates that block entry to the narrow road.
Shoe-throwing has become a popular way to express protest and contempt since an Iraqi journalist pelted U.S. President George W. Bush with a pair of shoes in Baghdad last month.
Rallies also were held in other British cities - including Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow. Elsewhere in Europe, protests in Paris, Amsterdam, Rome and Berlin all drew big crowds.
In Paris, police said 21,000 marched through the streets, shouting "We are all Palestinians" and "Israel assassin." Later, about 500 protesters threw objects at police, burned Israeli flags, overturned and torched cars, and vandalized several shops, police said.
Angry protests continued for a second day in Turkey, where about 5,000 demonstrators in Ankara shouted "killer Israel."
In The Netherlands, thousands of people marched through Amsterdam. One banner declared: "Anne Frank is turning in her grave. Oh Israel!"
In Athens, a few of the 5,000 protesters threw stones and gasoline bombs at police outside the Israeli Embassy. Riot police retaliated with tear gas and stun grenades.
More protests are planned, including another in San Francisco at noon Sunday at Powell and Market streets. Next Saturday, there is an 11 a.m. event in San Francisco's Civic Center.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
E-mail Marisa Lagos at mlagos@sfchronicle.com
Monday, January 5, 2009
Friday, December 19, 2008
In tough times, ranks of homeless students rising
By EVELYN NIEVES
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — As foreclosures and layoffs force families out of their homes, school districts across the nation are struggling to deal with a dramatic influx of homeless children.
Some districts are seeing increases of 50 to 100 percent or more and are so understaffed that it is taking weeks to help the homeless students and families who need it, according to a new survey on homeless children. Educators say students without a stable home are at greater risk of becoming truants, developing behavioral problems and failing in school.
An estimated 2 million children are at risk of homelessness because of the foreclosure crisis and economic downturn, according to First Focus, a child advocacy organization that examined Census and economic data.
The number of homeless students in foreclosure-ridden Oakland, with 38,000 students, has doubled to 1,200 since last year, said Mathew Uretsky, the district's homeless coordinator. And he thinks the number of school-age homeless children is four times as high.
"We find children in shelters who are just sitting there," he said. "Sometimes we find kids who aren't in school right now because they don't have bus passes. A lot of children of day laborers are not going to school because their parents don't think they have a right to go."
Some families end up in shelters, or bunking with relatives or friends. Others stay in run-down motels, or their cars. In cities where rents are high, such as San Francisco, a family that loses its home may spend months, even years, trying to find another.
Alex Rodriguez, 32, and Rosa Estevez, 26, both lost their jobs — he at a car parts store, she an insurance office — when their companies left San Francisco. Within two months, they and their 12-year-old son were homeless. They wound up at Rafael House, a family shelter.
Estevez, who is pregnant, said their son is often depressed.
"We try to stay upbeat for him," she said, "but I've noticed that he is not as interested in school any more."
A survey of more than 1,700 school districts released Friday by First Focus and The National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY), Washington-based non-profits, found unprecedented jumps in homeless students in the three months of the school year.
Most districts surveyed said they had identified more homeless students in the first three months than they had at the same point last year. Some 330 districts already have identified at least as many homeless students this school year as they did in the entire previous year. About 10 percent of the 16,000 school districts across the country participated in the survey.
But school district homeless liaisons, whose jobs are to identify and help homeless students, believe the numbers are even higher than reported, said Barbara Duffield, executive director of NAEHCY. Schools are finding it harder to identify homeless students because families new to homelessness often are moving targets. Many are not sure how to seek help or are too humiliated to come forward.
"Before this economic downturn, there was not enough shelter," Duffield said. "That is, the safety net was badly frayed. Now, it's got a gaping hole through which families who have never experienced this are falling."
Although the U.S. Department of Education still is tallying the number of homeless students for the 2007-2008 school year, all indications point to a problem with no end in sight, said John McLaughlin, coordinator of the DOE's homeless assistance program for school districts. "All across the board," he said, "in every state we got information from, there were some pretty big increases in homeless students."
The primary reasons for the surge are increasing joblessness and the foreclosure debacle, according to local and national homeless advocacy organizations.
"You've got dramatic foreclosures plus a million job losses," said Philip Mangano, director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, the administration's lead organization for addressing homeless issues. "We would have to be naive to believe that this wouldn't have an effect on families already struggling, and it has."
In this economy, there is no quick fix. Congress approved $3.9 billion in its last spending bill to aid communities ravaged by the foreclosure crisis, Mangano said. Advocates for homeless children are asking the Senate for $72 million in emergency funding for DOE's homeless children and youth programs.
The influx of homeless students also is costing local school districts. Federal law requires state and local school agencies to provide homeless students transportation to the school they began the year attending, as well as meals, books and other support. Some districts report that transportation bills eat up more than half of their funds for homeless assistance.
Cities and counties hard hit by foreclosures are seeing a corresponding rise in family homelessness. In Nevada's Clark County, with one of the worst foreclosure rates in the nation, the school district of 300,000 students reports 4,033 homeless students, double the number a year ago.
"We're falling in the same pattern as everybody else," said Myra Berkovitz, the district's coordinator for homeless students. "More need and less money."
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — As foreclosures and layoffs force families out of their homes, school districts across the nation are struggling to deal with a dramatic influx of homeless children.
Some districts are seeing increases of 50 to 100 percent or more and are so understaffed that it is taking weeks to help the homeless students and families who need it, according to a new survey on homeless children. Educators say students without a stable home are at greater risk of becoming truants, developing behavioral problems and failing in school.
An estimated 2 million children are at risk of homelessness because of the foreclosure crisis and economic downturn, according to First Focus, a child advocacy organization that examined Census and economic data.
The number of homeless students in foreclosure-ridden Oakland, with 38,000 students, has doubled to 1,200 since last year, said Mathew Uretsky, the district's homeless coordinator. And he thinks the number of school-age homeless children is four times as high.
"We find children in shelters who are just sitting there," he said. "Sometimes we find kids who aren't in school right now because they don't have bus passes. A lot of children of day laborers are not going to school because their parents don't think they have a right to go."
Some families end up in shelters, or bunking with relatives or friends. Others stay in run-down motels, or their cars. In cities where rents are high, such as San Francisco, a family that loses its home may spend months, even years, trying to find another.
Alex Rodriguez, 32, and Rosa Estevez, 26, both lost their jobs — he at a car parts store, she an insurance office — when their companies left San Francisco. Within two months, they and their 12-year-old son were homeless. They wound up at Rafael House, a family shelter.
Estevez, who is pregnant, said their son is often depressed.
"We try to stay upbeat for him," she said, "but I've noticed that he is not as interested in school any more."
A survey of more than 1,700 school districts released Friday by First Focus and The National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY), Washington-based non-profits, found unprecedented jumps in homeless students in the three months of the school year.
Most districts surveyed said they had identified more homeless students in the first three months than they had at the same point last year. Some 330 districts already have identified at least as many homeless students this school year as they did in the entire previous year. About 10 percent of the 16,000 school districts across the country participated in the survey.
But school district homeless liaisons, whose jobs are to identify and help homeless students, believe the numbers are even higher than reported, said Barbara Duffield, executive director of NAEHCY. Schools are finding it harder to identify homeless students because families new to homelessness often are moving targets. Many are not sure how to seek help or are too humiliated to come forward.
"Before this economic downturn, there was not enough shelter," Duffield said. "That is, the safety net was badly frayed. Now, it's got a gaping hole through which families who have never experienced this are falling."
Although the U.S. Department of Education still is tallying the number of homeless students for the 2007-2008 school year, all indications point to a problem with no end in sight, said John McLaughlin, coordinator of the DOE's homeless assistance program for school districts. "All across the board," he said, "in every state we got information from, there were some pretty big increases in homeless students."
The primary reasons for the surge are increasing joblessness and the foreclosure debacle, according to local and national homeless advocacy organizations.
"You've got dramatic foreclosures plus a million job losses," said Philip Mangano, director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, the administration's lead organization for addressing homeless issues. "We would have to be naive to believe that this wouldn't have an effect on families already struggling, and it has."
In this economy, there is no quick fix. Congress approved $3.9 billion in its last spending bill to aid communities ravaged by the foreclosure crisis, Mangano said. Advocates for homeless children are asking the Senate for $72 million in emergency funding for DOE's homeless children and youth programs.
The influx of homeless students also is costing local school districts. Federal law requires state and local school agencies to provide homeless students transportation to the school they began the year attending, as well as meals, books and other support. Some districts report that transportation bills eat up more than half of their funds for homeless assistance.
Cities and counties hard hit by foreclosures are seeing a corresponding rise in family homelessness. In Nevada's Clark County, with one of the worst foreclosure rates in the nation, the school district of 300,000 students reports 4,033 homeless students, double the number a year ago.
"We're falling in the same pattern as everybody else," said Myra Berkovitz, the district's coordinator for homeless students. "More need and less money."
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Cities see increace in homelessness
Capt. Martin Cooper of the Salvation Army has been handing out free sandwiches and soup near the Civic Center in San Francisco for the last year and a half. Lately he's noticed some troubling changes.(Full Article)
Friday, December 12, 2008
Homeless Portlanders set to sue to block anti-camping ordinance
The nonprofit Oregon Law Center plans to file a class-action lawsuit Friday in federal court challenging the constitutionality of Portland’s anti-camping ordinance. (Full Article)
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Memo to Mayor Villaraigosa and L.A. County supervisors:
Skid row still needs more than cops
Full Article
Full Article
Monday, October 27, 2008
STOP THE RAIDS IN THE FIRST 100 DAYS
The first of the 388 workers arrested in the immigration raid on the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, were deported in mid-October, having spent five months in federal prison. Their crime? Giving a bad Social Security number to the company to get hired.
(Full Article)
David Bacon | October 23, 2008
(Full Article)
David Bacon | October 23, 2008
Friday, October 24, 2008
Don't Waffle - Breakfast with Sherman Alexie
Dear Activist,
Celebrate 14 years of community-building, quality alternative journalism, and effective grassroots organizing with the irrepressible Sherman Alexie and 500-1,000 of our best friends.
This has been a year of courageous risk-taking and relentless organizing. Help us be strong.
What: Real Change 14th Anniversary Breakfast
When: Wednesday November 12, 7:30-9am
Where: University of Washington, Husky Union Ballroom
Tickets are $50 each, $500 per table.
Guests have the following payment options:
1. A check made payable to Real Change, 2129 2nd Ave., Seattle, WA 98121. Mail previous to event (preferred) or give it to us at the breakfast.
2. Call Kathy at 206-441-3247 x201 to process a credit card payment over the phone.
3. Tickets are available online
Driving directions
Public transportation
- Destination is University of Washington HUB
Sponsored by PCC, University of Washington Honors Department, Catering by FareStart
Celebrate 14 years of community-building, quality alternative journalism, and effective grassroots organizing with the irrepressible Sherman Alexie and 500-1,000 of our best friends.
This has been a year of courageous risk-taking and relentless organizing. Help us be strong.
What: Real Change 14th Anniversary Breakfast
When: Wednesday November 12, 7:30-9am
Where: University of Washington, Husky Union Ballroom
Tickets are $50 each, $500 per table.
Guests have the following payment options:
1. A check made payable to Real Change, 2129 2nd Ave., Seattle, WA 98121. Mail previous to event (preferred) or give it to us at the breakfast.
2. Call Kathy at 206-441-3247 x201 to process a credit card payment over the phone.
3. Tickets are available online
Driving directions
Public transportation
- Destination is University of Washington HUB
Sponsored by PCC, University of Washington Honors Department, Catering by FareStart
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Dancing for Our Rights
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Doors open at 7 PM
Slim's
333 11th St. (between Folsom and Harrison)
San Francisco, CA 94103-4313
We invite you to join the Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP) for a celebratory evening of music, dance, and community at San Francisco’s premier night club, Slim's.
Resistance takes many forms and WRAP knows that music and dance release a creativity that sustains and inspires each of us. This artistic expression is at the heart of what we do. So come and let loose your bodies and spirits to the Latin Jazz and Afro-Cuban beats of GREAT local talents, The John Santos Sextet and Fito Reinoso y Ritmo y Armonia.
We will celebrate our young organization's accomplishments and all the people who make WRAP possible, and build energy and community as we join forces to create to a social justice movement that promotes the human and civil rights of poor and homeless people in our communities by winning affordable housing, health care, education, and livable incomes for everyone. Proceeds will be used to support our civil rights campaign, Without Rights.
Tickets are $25 each and available through WRAP (Contact Michael at 415-621-2533 or development@wraphome.org), in person at Slim’s or Great American Music Hall box offices (open M – F from 10:30am – 6pm & also in the evening on nights of shows), via www.slimstickets.com & by fax order (downloadable fax form available at www.slims-sf.com)
About WRAP:
WRAP’s mission is to build a movement to expose and eliminate the root causes of civil and human rights abuses of people experiencing poverty and homelessness in our communities. WRAP members include Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency (Berkeley and Oakland), Coalition on Homelessness, San Francisco, Los Angeles Community Action Network, Real Change (Seattle), Sisters Of The Road and Street Roots (Portland), and Street Spirit (Oakland). Check out our website to learn more about WRAP: www.wraphome.org.
About the artists:
Four-time Grammy-nominated, US Artists Fontanals Fellow, Bay Area native, John Santos, is a major international exponent of Afro-Latin music as an innovative percussionist, composer, teacher, writer, and producer for over thirty five years. He's worked with masters like Cachao, Dizzy Gillespie, McCoy Tyner, Tito Puente, Joe Henderson, Max Roach, Bebo Valdés, Eddie Palmieri and Omar Sosa. He was founder and director of the internationally renowned, Grammy-nominated Machete Ensemble (1985-2006) and currently directs the highly acclaimed John Santos Sextet.
Fito Reinoso has made the Bay Area his home and is the premier Cuban born Sonero performing in the Bay Area. Fito is an accomplished singer-songwriter and plays classic son, cha-cha-cha, bolero and modern Cuban urban grooves. Fito was nominated for the Grammy in 1995 for his work with Changuito, Patato and Orestes Vilato. He has performed with Cuban legends Armando Peraza and Cachao, and with many of the great Latin music artists of the Bay Area, the United States and Cuba, including Los Van Van, Irakere and Bamboleo. Fito Reinoso and his band, Ritmo y Armonia, perform at a number of Bay Area renowned nightclubs and festivals.
Ivy League Homelessness
The national housing and financial crises were brought home to Cambridge at last night’s City Council meeting, during which the body passed two resolutions to investigate homelessness in the city. Full Article
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Human Right to Housing
No housing program can be adequate or complete if it fails to provide for any substantial segment of our population. We can maintain neither a prosperous industry nor a prosperous nation if we do not bring better housing to more people.
- Pres. Harry S. Truman
There Is No Place Like Home:
Revisiting Our Commitment to Housing the Poor
Full Report
- Pres. Harry S. Truman
There Is No Place Like Home:
Revisiting Our Commitment to Housing the Poor
Full Report
Monday, September 22, 2008
Stop human rights abuses on skid row
2 Years
18,000* arrests
No new housing
Stop the city's crackdown on poverty, homelessness and mental illness from entering its third year.
Join us Sept. 25th. at 10:00a.m.on the corner of 5th. And Main Streets to tell the mayor we want housing and services, not jails.
• 750 arrests each month in a community that’s home to 13,000 people. These arrests have had no affect on violent crime in the area, but they’ve had a devastating and lasting affect on poor, homeless and mentally ill people living downtown.
• 1,000 misdemeanor citations each month for “crimes” such as crossing the street against a flashing red hand. When a poor or homeless Skid Row resident can’t pay the fine, the citation turns to warrant and leads to arrest.
• Thousands shut out of federally-funded housing and food programs. When people return from jail, their criminal record forces them to live on the street, where they cost taxpayers $100,000 each year as they circulate through emergency rooms and jails.
• $6 million each year for 50 additional uniformed officers and as many undercover officers to police a 50-square block area. That’s about equal to the amount the city “invests” in homeless services for the entire year. Over two years, that money could have been used to get 750 people off the streets and into housing with support services.
• Thousands of cases in an overburdened court system. Drug cases involving no more than $5 in crack cocaine are clogging up a court system that has a difficult time finding space and resources for murder and rape trials.
We cannot police out way out of homelessness. It’s inhumane, expensive, and completely ineffective.
On Sept. 25, we will demand an end to the discriminatory policing and call for housing and services for the poor, homeless and disabled residents of Skid Row.
18,000* arrests
No new housing
Stop the city's crackdown on poverty, homelessness and mental illness from entering its third year.
Join us Sept. 25th. at 10:00a.m.on the corner of 5th. And Main Streets to tell the mayor we want housing and services, not jails.
• 750 arrests each month in a community that’s home to 13,000 people. These arrests have had no affect on violent crime in the area, but they’ve had a devastating and lasting affect on poor, homeless and mentally ill people living downtown.
• 1,000 misdemeanor citations each month for “crimes” such as crossing the street against a flashing red hand. When a poor or homeless Skid Row resident can’t pay the fine, the citation turns to warrant and leads to arrest.
• Thousands shut out of federally-funded housing and food programs. When people return from jail, their criminal record forces them to live on the street, where they cost taxpayers $100,000 each year as they circulate through emergency rooms and jails.
• $6 million each year for 50 additional uniformed officers and as many undercover officers to police a 50-square block area. That’s about equal to the amount the city “invests” in homeless services for the entire year. Over two years, that money could have been used to get 750 people off the streets and into housing with support services.
• Thousands of cases in an overburdened court system. Drug cases involving no more than $5 in crack cocaine are clogging up a court system that has a difficult time finding space and resources for murder and rape trials.
We cannot police out way out of homelessness. It’s inhumane, expensive, and completely ineffective.
On Sept. 25, we will demand an end to the discriminatory policing and call for housing and services for the poor, homeless and disabled residents of Skid Row.
Nickelsville is standing!
Photo by Scott Eklund /P-IOver a hundred tents now stand. We need your help! Come show your support and stand in solidarity with those who have no choice but to sleep outside.
Head over to Nickelsville anytime! Before or after work, during your break - we hope to see you there.
Nickelsville is located in the South Seattle neighborhood, at the crossing of West Marginal Way SW and Highland Park.
Address: 7115 W Marginal Way SW, Seattle Map
More Here
Homeless start settling in fuchsia 'Nickelsville'
A modern-day Hooverville opens in Seattle
For questions email Natalie
See everyone soon,
The Real Change Organizing Project
NPACH Statement: Bailout Must Help Low Income Families, Not Just Wall Street
The U.S. economy is in turmoil. Earlier this year, Bear Stearns received a massive federal government subsidy, in order to facilitate a fire sale. In recent weeks, the government has taken over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and seized control of AIG. Foreclosures continue to rise, and the stock market is volatile. Now, federal officials and congressional leadership are discussing a Wall Street bailout that could cost U.S. taxpayers up to $700 billion.
In these troubled times, as Congress acts to protect the safety and soundness our of financial system, we must not forget that the cause of our current problems is the mortgage and foreclosure crisis. While the impact may be felt across many sectors of the economy, what we have is at its heart a housing problem - one which demands housing-related solutions.
HUD recently declared that homelessness was down, a statement reported breathlessly by far too many in the media. Despite this government spin, cities across the country have been reporting a huge influx in homelessness due to foreclosures and a declining economy. Last week, a HUD spokesman acknowledged that their numbers predated the foreclosure crisis, and that the agency has no idea of how rising foreclosures are actually affecting homelessness, terming it "a great question," and stating that "we're still trying to get to that."
We understand the vulnerable position so many families are in - a recent report tells us that over 2 million children will be negatively affected by the foreclosure crisis, with many of them becoming homeless. And we believe that if the government chooses to intervene financially to protect corporate America, we must also protect families who are at risk of homelessness or already homeless. These families should not have to live doubled up, in tent cities, and on the streets while failed Wall Street CEOs retreat to their multi-million dollar mansions.
The President has called on Congress to swiftly enact a bailout plan. We agree that action to assist low income and homeless families cannot wait. To ensure that any legislation helps all Americans in need, the following key affordable housing priorities must be part of any final package.
Congress must act now to:
For additional information, contact Jeremy Rosen, NPACH Executive Director, at (202) 714-5378, or jrosen@npach.org
In these troubled times, as Congress acts to protect the safety and soundness our of financial system, we must not forget that the cause of our current problems is the mortgage and foreclosure crisis. While the impact may be felt across many sectors of the economy, what we have is at its heart a housing problem - one which demands housing-related solutions.
HUD recently declared that homelessness was down, a statement reported breathlessly by far too many in the media. Despite this government spin, cities across the country have been reporting a huge influx in homelessness due to foreclosures and a declining economy. Last week, a HUD spokesman acknowledged that their numbers predated the foreclosure crisis, and that the agency has no idea of how rising foreclosures are actually affecting homelessness, terming it "a great question," and stating that "we're still trying to get to that."
We understand the vulnerable position so many families are in - a recent report tells us that over 2 million children will be negatively affected by the foreclosure crisis, with many of them becoming homeless. And we believe that if the government chooses to intervene financially to protect corporate America, we must also protect families who are at risk of homelessness or already homeless. These families should not have to live doubled up, in tent cities, and on the streets while failed Wall Street CEOs retreat to their multi-million dollar mansions.
The President has called on Congress to swiftly enact a bailout plan. We agree that action to assist low income and homeless families cannot wait. To ensure that any legislation helps all Americans in need, the following key affordable housing priorities must be part of any final package.
Congress must act now to:
- Permit bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages on primary residences during the foreclosure process, to help keep families in their homes.
- Enact baseline renter protections, to ensure that innocent tenants who pay their rent and comply with their leases are not evicted (sometimes with as little as 3 days notice) when their landlord goes through a foreclosure and the rental unit is turned over to the bank.
- Provide an immediate infusion of at least $300 million to FEMA's Emergency Food and Shelter Program, which helps prevent and end homelessness.
- Appropriate funds for 100,000 new Section 8 vouchers targeting homeless families.
- Require Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the new entity that will purchase mortgage securities to increase contributions to the new National Housing Trust Fund and Capital Market Fund, created earlier this year, so that more new units of affordable housing can be developed.
For additional information, contact Jeremy Rosen, NPACH Executive Director, at (202) 714-5378, or jrosen@npach.org
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Capitol Strives to Define ‘Homeless’
For more than 20 years, federal housing law has counted as homeless only people living on the streets or in shelters. But now the House and the Senate are considering an expansion of the definition to include people precariously housed: those doubled up with friends or relatives or living day to day in motels, with money and options running out.
Full Capitol Strives to Define ‘Homeless’ Article
Full Capitol Strives to Define ‘Homeless’ Article
Friday, September 5, 2008
Hard Times Hitting Students and Schools
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — With mortgage foreclosures throwing hundreds of families out of their homes here each month, dismayed school officials say they are feeling the upheaval: record numbers of students turning up for classes this fall are homeless or poor enough to qualify for free meals.
Full Article
Full Article
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT AGAINST SAN FRANCISCO FOR HOMELESS SHELTER PROGRAM THAT EXCLUDES DISABLED PEOPLE
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 27, 2008
Contacts:
Disability Rights Advocates:
Sid Wolinsky (510) 665-8644
Julia Pinover (510) 665-8644
Western Regional Advocacy Project:
Paul Boden (415) 621-2533
Zelle, Hofmann, Voelbel, Mason & Gette LLP:
Daniel Mason (415) 693-0700
DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT AGAINST SAN FRANCISCO FOR HOMELESS SHELTER PROGRAM THAT EXCLUDES DISABLED PEOPLE
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — A landmark suit filed in federal court in San Francisco today charges that San Francisco’s homeless shelter program “blatantly discriminates” against disabled homeless people. Although the majority of all homeless people are men, women, and children with disabilities, the suit is the first in the country to broadly challenge the homeless shelter program of a city as a violation of civil rights statutes that protect people with disabilities.
The suit alleges that the cornerstone of San Francisco’s approach to homelessness — the embattled “Care Not Cash” program that is the brain child of Mayor Gavin Newsom systematically excludes homeless men and women with disabilities.
Care Not Cash gives participants priority shelter reservations and case management services. Homeless disabled persons who receive social security or veterans benefits cannot participate in the program, even if they desperately need shelter. People with disabilities are thus denied any opportunity to use a major portion of the resources in the shelter system and are denied access to the hundreds of reserved Care Not Cash beds.
Disabled persons are also denied any opportunity to make a 45-day shelter bed reservation, a privilege that Care Not Cash gives to eligible participants. In addition, these disabled men and women must compete with thousands of others each night for a chance to occupy one of the scarce shelter beds available. As a result, homeless people who need shelter the most are the ones who are least able to gain access to the services they so desperately need.
The class action suit, seeking relief on behalf of disabled homeless persons in San Francisco, was filed by Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), a Berkeley-based nonprofit law center, and Zelle, Hofmann, Voelbel, Mason & Gette LLP, a major national litigation law firm. The suit seeks to end discrimination against disabled people and does not request money damages.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP), a non profit coalition protecting the interests of homeless people, and an individual with disabilities who is homeless in San Francisco.
Sid Wolinsky, Litigation Director for Disability Rights Advocates, commented:
“San Francisco’s homeless ‘program’ is a bureaucratic mess. Under Mayor Newsom’s system, disabled people are more likely to be forced onto the streets and alleys of San Francisco. No amount of smooth talking can hide the fact that there are only 1,300 shelter beds for some 3,800 single adult homeless people. No wonder the last report of the National Coalition for the Homeless named San Francisco the ‘eleventh meanest city in the United States.’ The City has created a cruel shell game in which everyone is a loser.”
San Francisco has a very serious shortage of shelter beds. The City guarantees to anyone enrolled in Care Not Cash that they can obtain one of over three hundred beds specifically set aside for them. Because disabled men and women cannot participate in Care Not Cash, however, men and women in wheelchairs or with mental disabilities must attempt on their own to locate some other available bed, travel to that location carrying everything they have, endure lengthy waits until late at night, and often be told that no bed is available. Even if they find a bed, they cannot keep it. They are forced to repeat the process each day. Because homeless persons with disabilities often lack the mental and physical fortitude to overcome the obstacles which San Francisco imposes, they are often left unsheltered.
Dan Mason, an attorney with Zelle Hofmann commented: “It is shameful for a city with the civil rights history of San Francisco to treat people with disabilities so unfairly. People denied shelter beds are the most fragile shelter seekers — those with disabilities.”
People with disabilities, both mental and physical, make up a very high percentage of the homeless population in San Francisco. In a 2007 survey conducted by the Coalition on Homelessness, 50% of individuals in the shelter system self-identified as having a disability. Homeless advocates estimate that a far larger percentage of homeless people are disabled.
Paul Boden, Director of WRAP added, “Homelessness is an emergency. It is a crisis. For San Francisco to programmatically discriminate and to make this vital life sustaining service unavailable to people with mental health disabilities is unconscionable.”
The full text of the complaint is posted at the Disability Rights Advocates website: www.dralegal.org.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 27, 2008
Contacts:
Disability Rights Advocates:
Sid Wolinsky (510) 665-8644
Julia Pinover (510) 665-8644
Western Regional Advocacy Project:
Paul Boden (415) 621-2533
Zelle, Hofmann, Voelbel, Mason & Gette LLP:
Daniel Mason (415) 693-0700
DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT AGAINST SAN FRANCISCO FOR HOMELESS SHELTER PROGRAM THAT EXCLUDES DISABLED PEOPLE
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — A landmark suit filed in federal court in San Francisco today charges that San Francisco’s homeless shelter program “blatantly discriminates” against disabled homeless people. Although the majority of all homeless people are men, women, and children with disabilities, the suit is the first in the country to broadly challenge the homeless shelter program of a city as a violation of civil rights statutes that protect people with disabilities.
The suit alleges that the cornerstone of San Francisco’s approach to homelessness — the embattled “Care Not Cash” program that is the brain child of Mayor Gavin Newsom systematically excludes homeless men and women with disabilities.
Care Not Cash gives participants priority shelter reservations and case management services. Homeless disabled persons who receive social security or veterans benefits cannot participate in the program, even if they desperately need shelter. People with disabilities are thus denied any opportunity to use a major portion of the resources in the shelter system and are denied access to the hundreds of reserved Care Not Cash beds.
Disabled persons are also denied any opportunity to make a 45-day shelter bed reservation, a privilege that Care Not Cash gives to eligible participants. In addition, these disabled men and women must compete with thousands of others each night for a chance to occupy one of the scarce shelter beds available. As a result, homeless people who need shelter the most are the ones who are least able to gain access to the services they so desperately need.
The class action suit, seeking relief on behalf of disabled homeless persons in San Francisco, was filed by Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), a Berkeley-based nonprofit law center, and Zelle, Hofmann, Voelbel, Mason & Gette LLP, a major national litigation law firm. The suit seeks to end discrimination against disabled people and does not request money damages.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP), a non profit coalition protecting the interests of homeless people, and an individual with disabilities who is homeless in San Francisco.
Sid Wolinsky, Litigation Director for Disability Rights Advocates, commented:
“San Francisco’s homeless ‘program’ is a bureaucratic mess. Under Mayor Newsom’s system, disabled people are more likely to be forced onto the streets and alleys of San Francisco. No amount of smooth talking can hide the fact that there are only 1,300 shelter beds for some 3,800 single adult homeless people. No wonder the last report of the National Coalition for the Homeless named San Francisco the ‘eleventh meanest city in the United States.’ The City has created a cruel shell game in which everyone is a loser.”
San Francisco has a very serious shortage of shelter beds. The City guarantees to anyone enrolled in Care Not Cash that they can obtain one of over three hundred beds specifically set aside for them. Because disabled men and women cannot participate in Care Not Cash, however, men and women in wheelchairs or with mental disabilities must attempt on their own to locate some other available bed, travel to that location carrying everything they have, endure lengthy waits until late at night, and often be told that no bed is available. Even if they find a bed, they cannot keep it. They are forced to repeat the process each day. Because homeless persons with disabilities often lack the mental and physical fortitude to overcome the obstacles which San Francisco imposes, they are often left unsheltered.
Dan Mason, an attorney with Zelle Hofmann commented: “It is shameful for a city with the civil rights history of San Francisco to treat people with disabilities so unfairly. People denied shelter beds are the most fragile shelter seekers — those with disabilities.”
People with disabilities, both mental and physical, make up a very high percentage of the homeless population in San Francisco. In a 2007 survey conducted by the Coalition on Homelessness, 50% of individuals in the shelter system self-identified as having a disability. Homeless advocates estimate that a far larger percentage of homeless people are disabled.
Paul Boden, Director of WRAP added, “Homelessness is an emergency. It is a crisis. For San Francisco to programmatically discriminate and to make this vital life sustaining service unavailable to people with mental health disabilities is unconscionable.”
The full text of the complaint is posted at the Disability Rights Advocates website: www.dralegal.org.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Modern Times Book Store Event Up-Date
Aug.14, 2008 WRAP and local artists held a community meeting at Modern Times Book Store in San Francisco to discuss art as an organizing tool.Turn-out was outstanding. Around 100 people showed up. Between 60 and 70 stayed for the complete presentation.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Foot Patrols to Discourage Homeless in Berkeley
BERKELEY, Calif. (KCBS) -- The problem of homeless street people has plagued Berkeley, but officials are hopeful that a new program will help. In September outreach workers known as “hosts” will troll Shattuck and Telegraph Avenues.
”We want to make sure that they get their needs met, but also allow visitors to enjoy their experience when they’re downtown,” said Deborah Badhia, executive director of the Downtown Berkeley Association.
The idea for foot patrols was hatched about a year ago, around the time Cody’s Books closed. Some theories are that the bookstore was forced to closed, in part, because Telegraph Avenue had deteriorated to a point that no one wanted to come to shop.
The foot patrol will give the homeless housing referrals and lists of city services.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Mercer Island, Washington, is home to tent camp
An encampment for the homeless is set up on church property after a legal battle with local residents.
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