While on a trip to San Francisco for my friends wedding I was struck by the homeless situation in the city. Growing up in San Francisco I had become a bit numb to the catastrophic conditions of the homeless community there. Of course I remember the homeless when I lived there, but after spending the last 10 years in New York City I had almost forgotten the issue.
It is horribly saddening to see the problem today. I feel it has gotten much worse recently. Every where I went in the city you would see them. Whether it was under a bridge, under the freeway, on corners, in the backs of buildings. Pan handling on the streets, in wheel chairs, stoops of homes, Church entries. There was evidence of them everywhere.
Now moving into my mid 30's, I find myself often thinking about the how I would like to build a home for my wife and I. A structure that would shelter us from the elements. A place where our children would feel safe. A place where our friends and family would be able to come and relax. These are basic rights that I feel every person deserves. These people on the streets of San Francisco must have at one time or another had similar dreams.
The Victorians of San Francisco have always been a point of pride for that city. The shapes, the colors, the individual expression of the owners. Ive never seen another city in the US that has such vibrant and unique looking homes. Isn't it ironic that the city also has one of the largest homeless communities in the industrialized world. The stark contrast of multi million dollar Victorians that have had so much love and attention devoted to preserving them through fires and earthquakes, while right in front of them or down the block are the ancestors of some of the people that originally helped construct them.
I sourced this from Wikipedias, Homelessness in the United States page:
The city of San Francisco, California, due to its mild climate and its social programs that have provided cash payments for homeless individuals, is often considered the homelessness capital of the United States[90], together with Los Angeles. The city's homeless population has been estimated at 7,000-10,000 people, of which approximately 3,000-5,000 refuse shelter. The city spends $200 million a year on homelessness related programs.[91] On May 3, 2004 [17], San Francisco officially began an attempt to scale back the scope of its homelessness problem by changing its strategy from cash payments to the "Care Not Cash" plan. At the same time, grassroots organizations within the Bay Area such as the Suitcase Clinic work to provide referrals for housing and employment to the homeless population. In 2010, a city ordinance was passed which will disallow sitting and lying down on public sidewalks for most of the day, from 7am until 11pm.[92]
The 10,000 number in my opinion is completely inaccurate. When I lived in San Francisco in the 90's the number was officially around the same, but many officials cited it as being much larger than that. In a city as small as San Francisco you can just feel its brimming with a much larger number. There are so many kids and young adults who live in Golden Gate Park and many other public areas who would never end up on a census.
I worked in a volunteer position from time to time at Glide Memorial Church's soup kitchen in The Tenderloin district of San Francisco, serving the homeless on Saturdays. This gave me an interesting perspective on their situation. It also afforded me the opportunity to see and interact with these people face to face. I was too young then to have the compassion I have for them now.
Stopping to photograph them on this last trip at times would make me feel like some opportunist, or that I should give them a dollar or a cup of coffee instead of taking a snapshot. Shedding light on this problem through this blog is my best attempt to spread some awareness and hopefully start some sort of dialogue.
It is horribly saddening to see the problem today. I feel it has gotten much worse recently. Every where I went in the city you would see them. Whether it was under a bridge, under the freeway, on corners, in the backs of buildings. Pan handling on the streets, in wheel chairs, stoops of homes, Church entries. There was evidence of them everywhere.
Now moving into my mid 30's, I find myself often thinking about the how I would like to build a home for my wife and I. A structure that would shelter us from the elements. A place where our children would feel safe. A place where our friends and family would be able to come and relax. These are basic rights that I feel every person deserves. These people on the streets of San Francisco must have at one time or another had similar dreams.
The Victorians of San Francisco have always been a point of pride for that city. The shapes, the colors, the individual expression of the owners. Ive never seen another city in the US that has such vibrant and unique looking homes. Isn't it ironic that the city also has one of the largest homeless communities in the industrialized world. The stark contrast of multi million dollar Victorians that have had so much love and attention devoted to preserving them through fires and earthquakes, while right in front of them or down the block are the ancestors of some of the people that originally helped construct them.
I sourced this from Wikipedias, Homelessness in the United States page:
The city of San Francisco, California, due to its mild climate and its social programs that have provided cash payments for homeless individuals, is often considered the homelessness capital of the United States[90], together with Los Angeles. The city's homeless population has been estimated at 7,000-10,000 people, of which approximately 3,000-5,000 refuse shelter. The city spends $200 million a year on homelessness related programs.[91] On May 3, 2004 [17], San Francisco officially began an attempt to scale back the scope of its homelessness problem by changing its strategy from cash payments to the "Care Not Cash" plan. At the same time, grassroots organizations within the Bay Area such as the Suitcase Clinic work to provide referrals for housing and employment to the homeless population. In 2010, a city ordinance was passed which will disallow sitting and lying down on public sidewalks for most of the day, from 7am until 11pm.[92]
The 10,000 number in my opinion is completely inaccurate. When I lived in San Francisco in the 90's the number was officially around the same, but many officials cited it as being much larger than that. In a city as small as San Francisco you can just feel its brimming with a much larger number. There are so many kids and young adults who live in Golden Gate Park and many other public areas who would never end up on a census.
I worked in a volunteer position from time to time at Glide Memorial Church's soup kitchen in The Tenderloin district of San Francisco, serving the homeless on Saturdays. This gave me an interesting perspective on their situation. It also afforded me the opportunity to see and interact with these people face to face. I was too young then to have the compassion I have for them now.
Stopping to photograph them on this last trip at times would make me feel like some opportunist, or that I should give them a dollar or a cup of coffee instead of taking a snapshot. Shedding light on this problem through this blog is my best attempt to spread some awareness and hopefully start some sort of dialogue.
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