Letter to SF Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing

Dear Shireen McSpadden,

Growing up in the Bay Area, we have been educated about how homelessness is one of the largest issues in San Francisco. In 2022, 7,754 people were counted homeless and only 3,357 of them were able to access shelters. Even clients in shelters say that these facilities “aren’t designed for people to become self-sufficient.” Shelters often serve as the battleground for fights, overdoses, and psychiatric emergencies. There is one bathroom for 200 people lined up in cots, with no enforced rules around drugs. With these conditions, it’s easy to understand why people chose to stay out of shelters. Unfortunately, this situation creates a loop of people going from shelter to shelter or back on the street. Although the percentage of unsheltered people has gone down 15% from 2019-2022, the number of people that we see on the street as we get older becomes more apparent. We encounter and hear about the unhoused as the years pass, and we become more accustomed to the real world. As San Francisco is a mere 17 miles from our home, homelessness affects our Bay Area community every day.

A man named Kevin Hammond who had stayed in one of SF’s high shelters said in an interview, “I’m seriously considering just grabbing my tent and going somewhere…I would rather take my chances with the cougars and bears than these people.”

We need to solve this problem. Currently, San Francisco shelters are at 91% capacity. However, there is not enough assistance for the homeless. According to a January 2023 report, shelters were overcrowded to the point of needing occupants to sleep outside during stormy conditions. More money should be invested in creating more space for the unsheltered to get on their feet. An article from the San Francisco standard points out that “shelters are overloaded by people in need of more help than just a bed, leading many back to the streets or from one city-funded building to the next.” Shelters need to provide more support, such as offering rehab, helping with jobs, and teaching money management.

Another issue is drug addiction within the homeless. Many times, people refuse shelter because of not wanting to give up drugs. On the other hand, shelters sometimes can’t control the circulation and usage of drugs. These circumstances often cause chaos. There should be good rehab programs within shelters to actually help people get their life back.

We need to provide more resources, beyond a bed, to our homeless population. Shelters should have more resources regarding life counseling and mental help. They must provide the resources people need to become self-sufficient, thereby getting out of shelters and off the streets. Homeless people should be able to meet with life counseling and mental health resources 1-on-1 in order to ensure confidentiality and to access specialized help. These services would allow quicker rehabilitation and help people get their life back on track; as a result, we would be decreasing the homelessness population. Thank you so much for your time and consideration. We hope that with your help, our community will soon house everyone and become a safer place to live.

We would greatly appreciate a meeting with you and/or your administration to meet with you to discuss our solutions, as well as your current progress!