Give them a real place to go.
That's the message a coalition of homeless advocates calls for San Francisco to use all the supportive housing units it has before clearing tent encampments.
Advocates said San Francisco has more than 700 unused units. The new demand comes just days before the city is expected to begin what the mayor has called "an aggressive approach" to clearing longtime encampments.
The homeless advocates in a news conference Tuesday in front of the historic Hotel Whitcomb in San Francisco's Mid Market area decried the owners for letting the landmark sit empty.
The Whitcomb was used as an emergency shelter for the unhoused during the pandemic via a lease with the city. The lease has since expired.
Last year, the city agreed to pay $19.5 million because of damage to the building by those emergency occupants.
Still, the coalition of advocates said the city needs to do more to find shelter for those living in the streets before clearing out encampments.
"We demand our elected officials fill those empty units, bring more housing on the market, increase rental subsidies and assistance and rental protections," said John Do with the ACLU.
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Do is with the legal team that filed a federal lawsuit and triggered an injunction that had barred the city from clearing encampments. He said portions of that lawsuit will continue, despite the Supreme Court's "grants pass" ruling that nullified the injunction.
These advocates also claim the city currently has more than 700 permanently supportive housing units available, and filling them should be a priority.
Jennifer Freidenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness, said the city's system to fill those units is broken, but also admits many of those 700 plus units are not actually available.
"Some of the units need to be rehabbed, so the city needs to invest some money in about 300 of those units that need work," Freidenbach said. "Carpet, maybe they had a blown pipe or something like that."
According to city data, there are actually 793 permanent supportive housing units open: 398 are offline because of the repairs Friedenbach mentioned and another 229 are currently in the process of being moved into, leaving 166 available for use.
Tuesday's event comes ahead of what Mayor London Breed has described as more aggressive sweeps of homeless encampments beginning Wednesday.
Breed made that comment during a recent mayoral debate. A spokesperson for her office said the Department of Emergency Management has already been coordinating with city agencies on clearing large encampments.
Police officers also now have the power to clear smaller or single occupant encampments as needed.
In both situations, the city said the unhoused will be offered shelter and other services.
But attorneys for the unhoused claim the city has not been keeping proper track of the items it collects from those who are cleared. The lawyers also intend to continue their court fight. They expect a trial to happen sometime next year.
