My buddy Josh from the Mission SRO collaborative alerted me to a community teach-in and press conference going down tomorrow at Dolores Street Community Services on Valencia between 20th and 21st. Here’s the what:
San Francisco city officials and low income housing advocates will launch the newly expanded 311 that will benefit the more than 18,000 SRO residents throughout the city. Formerly utilized mainly for outdoor issues (potholes, graffiti, parks, etc.), 311 has now been expanded to address building issues, such as pests, inadequate heat or water, blocked fire exits and more. Advocates and city officials will be hitting the streets to get the word out and encourage residents to utilize the new service.
The event kicks off at 9:30 a.m. District supervisors David Campos and David Chiu will be in attendance, among others.
The Mission SRO Collaborative program is an interesting one, and one whose efforts we’ve been happy to highlight in the past. The non-profit provides outreach and education to residents of Single Room Occupancy (SRO, duh) hotels in the Mission, of which there are around 50, housing around 2,000 people.
It’s nice to hear there are organizations remedying all the shitty SF homelessness. Me, I just work for the Internet. The Internet doesn’t help anyone.
Check it out if at all interested.
Thanks for posting Kat. The event today was fantastic despite the weather, and there was coverage from newspapers, tv, bloggers, magazines. Supervisor Campos is also introducing an ordinance today that would require that SRO owners post an approved notice explaining the new 311 system. The community teach-in portion was also a success with tenants knowing their rights regarding safe, dignified housing, the police, and immigration authorities.
Housing frist: If you Build it thay will comeisn`t Just a Slogan
Mad Man Marlon – Posted on 14 October 2010
Author:
By Bruce Allison and Thornton Kimes
HOUSING FIRST: IF YOU BUILD IT THEY WILL COME ISN’T JUST A SLOGAN
PNNscholar1 – Posted on 08 August 2010
By Bruce Allison and Thornton Kimes
San Francisco has a “Housing First” policy. The (very extended) Patel family, which owns the vast majority of SRO hotel (Single Room Occupancy: a.k.a. Poor People Housing) properties in the city, is spitting in our faces by leaving SRO’s vacant for years. There is one in the Mission (22nd and Mission, above the Ritmo music store, with 40 units), and one in SOMA—the already earthquake code-improved 100-200 unit four-story Chronicle Hotel (across the street from the newspaper!) and the retail space under it.
Housing in the city translates into money spent in the city, including jobs for people staffing SRO hotels; of course, getting the empty Patel spaces clean and useable as living spaces would also generate those oh-so-wonderful short-term (a.k.a. temporary) jobs the “job creators” love to talk about (contractor stuff, construction…) too.
The SRO in the Mission only needs $500,000 (current costs) to be returned to service. The electrical wiring is up to code. Sinks and bathrooms would need to be installed. The SOMA space, abandoned for 20 years, used to have a blood plasma donation center on the ground floor. Bruce and Thornton remember it well. A lot more money would need to be sunk into it to make it liveable.
City services, funded by local, state, and federal taxes, would not be strained by an effort made to maximize housing for poor people, the tax base would be improved by it. This modest proposal would take approximately 200 people off the streets. More would be better.