A Venezuelan migrant who lost nine fingers and her left foot after contracting meningitis at the emergency congregate shelter at Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8 is slated to be released from the hospital today. Her initial excitement after an agonizing six-month hospital stay, however, is tempered by the reality she finds herself in: No secured housing for her and her 15-year-old daughter.
At 11 a.m. this morning, about 50 people gathered in a demonstration outside of the main entrance of Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital to ask City Hall and the Department of Homelessness to provide secure housing for Carmen Marquez and her daughter, Breanny. City services initially offered to put Marquez and Breanny back into a congregate shelter.
After pushback from organizers with Faith in Action, which organized today’s action, Marquez has since been offered a hotel room for six to eight months. Breanny, however, can’t live with her mom in the same space, according to Faith in Action.
On the night of March 8, Marquez started feeling ill after drinking a carton of milk provided by the shelter at Buena Vista Horace Mann on Valencia between 23rd and 24th streets.
“I remember taking a sip right out of the carton before my daughter came back with a glass for me,” said Marquez in Spanish in an interview with Mission Local after this morning’s demonstration. “When I was almost finished with it, I noticed there were these black small mushrooms at the bottom of the glass. I freaked out immediately.”
Marquez said she tried, unsuccessfully, to induce vomiting right after seeing the mushrooms. About three hours later, she started vomiting and feeling dizzy. She recalls informing the manager at the shelter about her condition. But Marquez says no action was taken until she started having seizures in the middle of the night.
“I remember being conscious at the hospital when I arrived. I told my daughter, ‘Please take care of yourself, because I’m dying,’” said Marquez. “I gave a doctor my dental prosthesis and told them to give it to a friend. They said, ‘We need to collect blood,’ and that’s the last thing I remember.”
What followed were six days in coma and 18 in intubation. The bacteria had found its way to Marquez’s blood.
Upon Marquez’s release, Faith in Action activists asked the city to provide stable housing for the family, especially considering Marquez’s ordeal.
Marquez did not attend today’s rally, but thanked the crowd from her hospital room through a video call one of the speakers made.
“La comunidad está contigo. No te dejaremos sola,” or “the community is with you. We won’t let you alone,” her well-wishers kept chanting with their fists in the air. From Marquez’s window, people inside waved back at the crowd.
Arrival from Venezuela
Marquez, 46, came to San Francisco with her daughter in October last year after arriving from Venezuela in September.
She told Mission Local that she decided to leave Venezuela after her husband died in 2021 and the company where he worked, Venezuela Petroleum, refused to compensate the family for the time he worked there. She said her salary as a teacher then was not enough to sustain her and her two daughters. Her older child, who is 21, decided not to migrate.
Marquez hoped for a better life in the United States, but for her the American dream has taken a nightmare turn.
In an email to Mission Local, the Department of Homelessness said it was aware of the situation, but that it could not share any information about clients, given privacy policies.
The department confirmed one case of meningitis at the shelter, but could not substantiate whether the infection developed because of the conditions at the shelter.
“We have been distressed to hear about the health complications from our former program participant,” reads a statement from Laura Valdez, the executive director of Mission Action, which runs the shelter at Buena Vista Horace Mann.
“We did not receive any information from SF DPH or SF General medical personnel indicating that the source of the illness was tied to any of the food served within the shelter. Additionally, none of the other program participants who consumed the milk on-site reported any problems. We follow strict food safety and storage protocols aligned with USDA food safety standards. We trust that the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing will be able to identify appropriate housing or services given her current needs.”
The Department of Homelessness said it and a social worker will identify the best possible options for the family in coordination. Marquez told Mission Local that the social worker first offered to pay for her trip back to Venezuela, then provided an offer where she would live free for two months in an apartment. Marquez says her present offer is for the hotel room.
The Department of Homelessness would not comment on whether or not Marquez’s 15-year-old would be permitted to live in the hotel room with her mother.
According to activists present at today’s event, other residents of the Buena Vista Horace Mann shelter also fell ill.
Margarita Solito said her 6-year-old daughter also started feeling sick with similar symptoms — fever and vomiting — just three days after Marquez was hospitalized. She said her young child spent five days at the hospital.
When asked about this case, the homeless department said only one case of meningitis had been reported at the shelter, and that the department responded immediately by providing antibiotics for everyone at the shelter.
Marquez said she hopes the city can take the right steps to make sure everyone at shelters can live safely and with dignity.
“I want to send a message and say that I’m staying positive, and I won’t go anywhere without my daughter,” said Marquez, while she prepared for a shower she had requested ahead of her release.
For the time being, she and her daughter will stay with a friend from church. That, however, will only last for a few days.
There is zero proof she was infected with meningitis at the shelter. The incubation period for meningitis is approximately one week. Listeria does not spread in pasteurized milk. No one else at the shelter became ill and there was no outbreak of meningitis. Utter nonsense.
What happened to Ms. Marquez was horrible. But where is the fact checking on this article? I expect more of my treasured Mission Local! The facts just don’t add up – a moment of Google research immediately establishes that that meningitis simply does not spread the way she claims it did. I feel awful for her, but the job of journalists is to get to the truth, not just repeat baseless claims. This shelter is serving an important community need and I hope unhoused families aren’t scared to use it because of this irresponsible finger-pointing.
Completely agree. Disappointed in the lack of journalistic integrity from Mission Local and from this journalist. The shelter serves undocumented families who are recent migrants. They are an invaluable resource in the community. The hospital does it’s best to serve patients but they’re not gatekeeping free hotels that family’s can access because that doesn’t exist in SF.
Man, so many levels of messed-up. I admit I’m a softy and tend to side with folks who have lost digits and limbs while trying to live in a congregate shelter, whether or not the cause of those losses originated at the shelter. At the same time, I have a hard time making sense of the “solutions” offered now that this woman is about to be discharged from hospital.
Up front, and first, offer of a free ride back to Venezuela (guessing the assumption is the older daughter there is the contact); oth, here’s *two free months* in an apartment (wtf??); or we can put you up in a hotel, but your (younger) daughter can’t stay there with you (why??); in the meantime, friends will take care of you both as all this shit gets sorted (but only for *a few days* (according to whom??)).
Meanwhile, the mayor sits on bucks (and
has for a long time) intended for housing solutions, approved by the supervisors, which might mitigate and ameliorate housing needs.
And (ostensibly) responsible parties decline to comment except to acknowledge it’s an unfortunate situation. Awesome.
I’m confused. “she decided to leave Venezuela after her husband died in 2021 and the company where he worked, Venezuela Petroleum, refused to compensate the family for the time he worked there.” Didn’t he get paid while he worked? Was she trying to collect unpaid wages or get extra money because he died? Of course she entered the country legally! s/
Sorry for her illness & luckily she’s had months of free in-patient medical care but I don’t believe she got meningitis from spoiled milk.
Presumably trying to collect unpaid wages. Given how the Venezuelan oil industry is doing, it’s no surprise at all if the company was behind on paying some of its workers.
I am writing to strongly support the Buena Vista Horace Mann Stay Over Program for homeless SFUSD students and their families. I am a parent of two children that attend the school, and I am an emergency medicine physician.
I am so sorry for the horrible ordeal this woman has gone through. I am grateful to the staff at San Francisco General for saving her life. Stories like this can be frightening for the community and for parents of children at the school. I want to emphasize that our children were never at risk of contracting this deadly infection. I think Mission Local should clarify that this poor woman’s illness is not caused by bad milk, but rather by a bacteria called N. meningitides. It is only spread through close household contacts, and the treatment of the others living in the shelter with an antibiotic is more than enough to prevent spread. Normal cleaning procedures eradicate it, and it does not live on surfaces or travel through the air.
It is a rare disease, with roughly 50-200 cases per year in the US, 10-15% of which are fatal. To put this in perspective, roughly 300 people per year are hit by lightning, and roughly 50 of those strikes are fatal. It is preventable with a vaccine. Because of the rarity of the infection, only certain populations are recommended to receive the vaccine. Ask you health care provider if you need this vaccine.
I am grateful every single day to be part of a school that has shelter for those in our community who need it. It is proof that our principles, our staff, and our teachers care about each and every one of our children.
I pray everyday that all of our community may have safe and secure homes again. Let us all work together to make that dream a reality- shelters are not enough.
Thank you for all that you do.
this woman, should never have been in the wrong country in the first place.
we cannot be expected to care for all people. even her hospital bills have been shouldered by hardworking taxpayers.
our aging population needs full time benefits with no copays, not these undocumented migrants that come her to seek free homes, care and monies.
We prioritize US citizens over illegal immigrants for a reason.
This woman could have stayed in Venezuela or migrated for economic reasons to any other country between there and here.
Don’t lose sight of this.
Can we talk about Planned Parenthood’s endorsement of Bilal Mahmood and Trevor Chandler? Because rent control and local homegirl Jackie Fielder who has fought for local rights don’t help? What universe is supporting the tech carpetbaggers?
I wonder why homeless people living on tents on the sidewalk decline offers of congregate shelter.
“Either you get exposed to meningitis in a congregate shelter, or the city takes your tent and belongings.”
people ought to be responsible for themselves. our already broke government, cannot be expected to tend to the overflowing and overbreeding homeless population.
people should stand on their own, not depend on handouts.