Today's the big day more than 70 San Francisco media outlets have been waiting for, and as promised, there's a flood of coverage focused on the homeless people of San Francisco, and beyond. For our own part, today we have interviews with two former mayors of San Francisco, Senator Dianne Feinstein and Art Agnos. There you'll find thoughts on the situation during their mayoralties and today as well as opinions — they have many — on policies that antedate theirs. We also wrote about food security in the city, taking a look at the various suppliers who keep as many homeless people fed as possible.
A hub for all this work from all the publications involved can be found here, and it reads like its own dedicated news source on the subject. If you don't have a chance, at least not at the moment, to peruse that on its own, below are some links to particular stories that may capture your attention.
California Sunday magazine has a close look at four different communities of young homeless people, 48 percent of whom are LGBTQ in SF. The examination covers everything from how these young people get around, or get here in the first place, to what the things they carry with them.
Homeward Bound is the program that buses homeless San Franciscans out of the city and to family and friends waiting for them with open arms, or so the story goes. As more and more people take advantage of the program, where is it all going, the Examiner asks?
What becomes of your property when you're homeless and face street sweeps? The Examiner has a photo essay of those confiscated items that are bagged and tagged. And, over at Mission Local is a complementary look at the process of trying to reclaim that stuff (it appears next to impossible).
Another side effect of encampments is waste, and surely there is confusion about what is and isn't that. But looking at the situation through the lens of 311 complaints and DPW removals, ABC7 has another report citing 20,000 tons of waste being removed weekly from camps.
At least two publication braved the thorny question of supervised drug and alcohol use. CityLab looks at the idea, which is very much just that for now, of safe injection sites, noting arguments about the clandestine nature of shooting up that makes it particularly unsafe. Meanwhile, ABC 7 is back on the question of an alcohol-friendly "Wet House." That includes this quote from Bevan Dufty, the former director or SF's homeless programs, who's been advocating for one of these for five years: "I think if you opened 75 to 100 units of wet housing... people in the city would feel a difference, see a difference."
Mission Local had fielded a question I know many have asked: how do high rents keep people or put people on our streets? Their approach was to gather stories of some who have stuck around due to their ties to friends or work in the city, but who were fairly recently housed here.
The Chronicle has yet another piece by Kevin Fagan exploring the supportive housing that San Francisco has built, the good that it does, and discussing how much more may need to be built.
Last, in a totally immersive series of interviews, this KQED piece is not to be missed. Have a look:
More than 70 Bay Area news organizations are participating in this media project that launches in full June 29. Follow the SF Homeless Project on Facebook and Twitter.
Related: Former Mayors Dianne Feinstein And Art Agnos Discuss Root Causes Of Homelessness, Other Mayors' Failures
SF Homeless Project Kicks Off With Open Letter To The City, Look Back At The Last 30 Years