The temporary, low-barrier Navigation Center for the homeless scheduled to open its doors Monday at 1515 South Van Ness Ave. was still under construction today and it is unclear when it will open. Last week, city leaders announced the center’s much anticipated opening. But on Monday afternoon, those doors remained shut and the center void of furniture and clients. A...
A bi-annual count of San Francisco’s homeless population released Friday shows the homeless count in the Mission District rising by 100 residents to 510, the third highest count in the city. South of Market tops the list with 3,655 homeless residents and the Bayview is second with 1,245 homeless residents, according to the tally of a single night in January....
Contractors began installing a permanent fence around the perimeter of McCoppin Hub last week, enacting plans, which date back to 2015, to close the public plaza at night. The fence is meant to put an end to the homeless population’s use of the hub for sleeping and alleged drug use by making it accessible during daytime hours only – a...
The neighbors who attended the Fix-It meeting at the Mission Pool and Playground meeting room on Wednesday talked about a neighborhood that changes dramatically at night. “During the day, we have a beautiful neighborhood,” said a man who introduced himself as Ray. “At night, we don’t have control of our neighborhood.” Residents of the blocks between 17th, 21st, Valencia and Folsom...
The Mission Merchants Association is hosting a rooftop fundraiser in support of the Saint Francis Homeless Challenge, a local advocacy group seeking to provide relief to the city’s homeless crisis by organizing with encampment residents, neighbors and city services. One solution presented by the group are temporary housing pods – and the fundraiser’s organizers hope to raise at least enough to pay...
The removal of a homeless stronghold underneath the 101 Freeway that divides the northeastern Mission and Potrero Hill ended Tuesday with nearly all of its 53 residents accepting shelter. Aside from a few, some 43 campers accepted placement in the Mission’s Navigation Center at 1950 Mission St., said Sam Dodge, deputy director of the Department on Homelessness and Supportive Housing, which...
A group of some 15 people living underneath the 101 freeway underpass at Brannan and Division Streets say they were “stood up” by Public Works cleaning crews who first instructed them to clear their encampment temporarily for a routine cleanup and then failed to appear for the actual cleaning, according to some of the encampment’s residents. “We worked through the...
A temporary homeless shelter open its doors at 1515 South Van Ness Ave. in the coming months, and on Thursday night city leaders responded to a multitude of questions and concerns by making promises that include a dedicated police patrol. Opinions at the meeting, which drew some 150 people, were divided on priorities: safety and compassion. “My neighbor’s car has been...
After a decade and a half of advocating for the homeless in the Mission and throughout the city, Mission Neighborhood Resource Center director Laura Guzman announced on Monday that she will be leaving her post in pursuit of new endeavors. “I leave my heart in the Mission,” wrote Guzman in a Facebook post announcing her departure from the center that...
At an emotional community debate Monday night some 200 Mission residents squared off with top city officials and one another over the burdens and benefits that a temporary homeless shelter will bring to a neighborhood severely impacted by tent encampments. At issue is the city’s plan to place a Navigation Center – a low-barrier homeless shelter that offers its clients...
Some 40 nearby neighbors made it clear on Monday night that they are unhappy about plans for a temporary homeless shelter at the site of former McMillan Electric building at 26th and South Van Ness streets. The lot is slated for 157 units of market-rate housing and the new Navigation Center would be a temporary use of the land. “We oppose...
Police, outreach workers and the homeless residents of an encampment that had been targeted for resolution in a city-sanctioned process that was already underway were surprised when cleaning crews descended on the encampment at the crack of dawn on Thursday and, without warning, ordered its inhabitants to pack up and move. The 30 or so residents of the encampment –...
A homeless man who entered a Mission home last November allegedly seeking shelter was acquitted Tuesday of burglary charges that carry a 17-year sentence. The acquittal came some five months after Phillip Martinez’ November 3 arrest. Unable to post the $100,000 bail, Martinez has been in jail. He remains in jail on an unrelated misdemeanor charge but his lawyer said...
In response to a surge of complaint-driven sweeps of homeless encampments by city officials in recent months, advocates for the homeless are now organizing and training civilians to monitor and document the rampant encampment removals. On Wednesday, organizers with the Coalition on Homelessness conducted the city’s first ever “Sweeps Watch” training to coach some 40 residents in identifying and...
Assigned from the Airport Bureau to one of San Francisco’s busiest police districts, new Mission Station Police Captain William Griffin said he anticipates a change of pace and comes equipped with a “customer service” centered lens that he hopes will shape the station to better and more efficiently serve the local community. “I think it’s always good to bring...
