Area Merchants Attempt to Deter Recent Influx of
Panhandlers
Residential groups have made progress by working with SF SAFE

By Jaime San Felippo

The Castro District is known as a place to find smiles and generosity. In recent months this generosity has attracted a new wave of panhandlers that have taken up residence on the sidewalks of the neighborhood, often leaving a mess in their wake and becoming aggressive in their requests for money.

Sharon Woo, store manager of Walgreens on the corner of Castro and 18th streets, noticed an increase in panhandling in front of her store about a year ago. Woo would call the police when her patrons would complain, but the complaints have become less frequent, which Woo said is a problem.

“It’s getting worse,” said Woo, who has managed the store for six years. “They aren’t very clean and it doesn’t look attractive for any business. When we ask them to move, sometimes they are OK and go for a while but sometimes they get aggressive.”

Woo said there is not much she can do about the panhandlers that hang out in front of her store. When called, the police would come, assess the situation and often move the panhandlers along, but as soon as the police leave they return.

In an effort to fight the growing number of panhandlers, the Merchants of Upper Market and Castro (MUMC) have resurrected a campaign they used a decade ago to fight the same battle. Called “Create Change,” a poster is being given to interested merchants to display in their window urging customers and residents not to give change to panhandlers, but rather donate money to programs such as Project Homeless Connect, that strive to get the homeless off the streets and into supportive programs.

“The Create Change campaign worked well ten years ago,” said Steve Adams, President of MUMC. “When people stopped giving panhandlers money, they moved on because they weren’t making anything.”

Adams believes that the panhandling youth are overflows from the Haight and Golden Gate Park, where police have been cracking down on the homeless. He has witnessed a few of them become aggressive to the point of swearing and spitting. Adams points out that in addition to Castro Street there has been an increase in panhandlers at the intersection of Noe and Market streets as well as at Church and Market streets.

In San Francisco it is not illegal to panhandle, but it is illegal to sleep in doorways or on the street. With the help of Municipal Code 25 No Trespassing signs that merchants display, police are able to cite the homeless when they block doorways, but citations have not solved the problem.

For 10 years Sergeant Lisa Frazer was the Castro beat officer with the Mission Police Station. She said 95 percent of complaints she received were related to homeless issues. According to Frazer the biggest issue with the chronically homeless is that they do not want help because they are mentally ill or chemically dependent.

Frazer has worked closely with San Francisco’s Homeless Outreach Team and has personally helped 20 people get housing. She also would hand out a 14-page reference guide of programs and services to the homeless “like candy on Halloween.”

Panhandlers know the Castro is a generous and humanitarian neighborhood, Frazer said, and the way to solve the neighborhood’s panhandling problem is to simply not give any money to the homeless, but to offer information on where they can get help.

“With all the services in San Francisco there is no reason for anyone to be homeless,” said Frazer. “A lot of them may be runaways or just there for the excitement, but living in the streets is not glamorous, healthy or safe. These kids could be victimized themselves.”

While panhandling in commercial areas of the Castro is on the rise, the homeless problem in residential areas is getting better.

Rob Cox lives on Hartford Street and used to have a problem with homeless people sleeping in his driveway and doorway and defecating in front of his house.

“We started taking a proactive approach to the ones sleeping in doorsteps,” said Cox. “I’m not mean to them, I just ask if they are OK and if they need help or if I should call someone for them.”
Cox said the final straw was when his neighbor found a homeless man sleeping in his car. According to police, the homeless man had 48 priors including breaking and entering, and stalking and threatening people.

This is when Cox and neighbors formed the Hartford Street Neighborhood Association (HSNA) and called San Francisco Safety Awareness For Everyone (SAFE). SF SAFE is a crime-prevention program that helps neighbors form neighborhood watches and work with local police to create a safer neighborhood.

Oona Gilles-Weil is the SF SAFE Program Director who worked with HSNA and since the collaboration, Cox said, his street feels more like a community. Crime and homeless problems have declined dramatically.

“The Homeless Outreach Team is really phenomenal at coming out and assessing the situation and offering services,” said Gilles-Weil. “But it starts with residents to take responsibility and report these situations.”

Dennis Richards, President of the Duboce Triangle Neighborhood Association (DTNA) said the homeless problem in his area is getting better as well. Richards has lived on Beaver Street for seven years and said that when he first moved in he would have weekly problems with homeless people sleeping in his doorway or defecating on his doorstep, but this has turned around.

Richards said the familiar homeless on his street generally co-exist peacefully in the neighborhood and do not harass residents. However, he says a lot of work needs to be done near the Safeway recycling center, where he has seen the homeless fighting each other and using drugs.

“The police can’t really do a lot if they don’t want help,” said Richard. “But sometimes tough love has to come into play. Letting someone kill themselves on alcohol or roll around in their own defecation is just not humane.”

For more information call SF SAFE at 415-553-1966 or Homeless Outreach Team at 415-760-8132 or Project Homeless Connect at 415-385-7778.

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