Castro Courier

Tommi Mecca of the Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco (left) speaks to the crowd at the forum. Dennis Richards, president of the Duboce Triangle Neighborhood
Association and organizer of the event, looks on.

In an effort to abate persisting problems of neighborhood homelessness, community leaders and members met on March 10 at the Eureka Valley Community Center in search of solutions and a better understanding of root causes.

The forum, sponsored by CATCH (Creating Alternatives to Castro Homelessness), the Eureka Valley Promotion Association (EVPA) and the Duboce Triangle Neighborhood Association (DTNA), allowed seven local professionals and experts in the field to provide insight while allowing community members to ask questions. The discussion, moderated by Dennis Richards, president of DTNA, highlighted the major problems facing the neighborhood. These included perpetually shifting populations of homeless populations throughout the Haight, Castro and Tenderloin, centers perceived as being unwelcoming, lack of case management and follow-up, high rates of homeless incarceration, and lack of and human resources, high staff burnout rates, recession budget cuts, and a general lack of housing facilities.

In order to curb incarcerations of homeless people, a 24-hour crisis center hotline could be created for those exhibiting disruptive behavior, according to Beck, youth program coordinator of the SF LGBT Community Center. Additionally, Beck said that centers with comprehensive services are missing, causing homeless people to shift between facilities, and follow-ups are often lacking for youths.

“Youth are really lacking alternatives and services. They are getting eighty-sixed from programs and put on the street and there is no follow-up,” Beck said. “As soon as you lose consistency in these youth programs, the bottom falls out.”

The Homeless Youth Alliance, which receives funds from city, a foundation and private sources, services about 60 to 100 people per day, according to Director Mary Howe, and burnout is a major issue among the staff. Volunteer psychologists are needed not only for the drop-ins but also the workers. She underscored the salience of resource limitation, which can be seen in everything from the demand in mental health to sanitation services. “We don’t even have public showers in the Haight because residents thought that it would promote homelessness.” She added, “There are currently no shower programs in the city.”

Other topics discussed included retention of the youth community in the Castro and the safety of transgendered people on the streets.

“Keeping youth in the community is important, as opposed to putting them in the Tenderloin where they are not safe,” said panelist Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the SF Coalition of Homelessness. “There is a striking rate of violence against transgender people compared to others.”
Panelist and SFCC Queer Resource Center worker Jayr Rosemon agreed, citing the Castro itself as an example. “The community as a whole in the Castro is not trans-friendly.”

During the night, homeless Castro resident Christiana Lopez, who has been in and out of a number of homeless programs, made several points about the root of the problem: housing. She said she planned to sleep in the park following the 9 p.m. conclusion of the forum.

“There is a lack of understanding about homelessness, even in the Castro,” Lopez said. “Housing starts the cycle.”

The bottom line, Friedenbach concurred, was related to supply and demand of housing and sleeping space. “We could do all the outreach we want, but if there’s no housing, it doesn’t do much,” she said. “With the recession, we are seeing massive increases. Two out of three people are turned away from shelters.”

Lopez suggested that the Diesel store on Castro be converted into a shelter, but the remark was met with skepticism.

After the forum had concluded, the city’s Housing and Urban Health Director of Programs Margot Antonetty, who watched in attendance, noted how the recession and the current budget problems of the City were impacting homeless programs, citing the $100 million in cuts her parent department had to make. However, she remained optimistic in the face of a supply deficit.

“I do have to say that due to the stimulus package, we actually are able to cut less than we thought six weeks ago because we are actually seeing more ways to raise more revenue,” she said. “So everyone is just delaying. But still, it is an overwhelming amount of services that is being cut. We try to make sure that people don’t lose out on services, but as you can see, what we need is more.”

Community organizations that provide heath, housing, counseling, activities, or food services include: Dimensions, Castro Country Club, Castro Center, Homeless Youth Alliance, SF LGBT Community Center, Larkin St. Youth Services, SF Coalition of Homelessness, SF Dept. of Housing and Urban Health, SF Homeless Outreach Team and a number of faith-based organizations.



	San Francisco, California April 2009