Latest news with #CoalitionOnHomelessness
Yahoo
31-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
‘Very alarming.' Ohio housing advocates decry Trump's executive order on homelessness
(Stock photo by) Ohio housing advocates spoke out against President Donald Trump's recent executive order that would force those experiencing homelessness off the streets by committing them to mental health institutions or drug treatment centers without their consent. Trump issued an executive order last week titled 'Ending Crime and Disorder on America's Streets.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'Shifting homeless individuals into long-term institutional settings for humane treatment through the appropriate use of civil commitment will restore public order,' according to Trump's Executive Order. But this could lead to more people experiencing homelessness, housing advocates said. 'There currently are no facilities to do this type of treatment within the state of Ohio or that could help people in the way that it's requesting so it would only leave people on the streets longer as they wait for services that don't exist,' said Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio Executive Director Amy Riegel. The executive order goes against Housing First, a homeless assistance approach that was first adopted federally during the George W. Bush Administration, which prioritizes housing without any prerequisites, such as sobriety or participation in treatment. 'The executive order was very alarming because it does upend decades of progress that had been made to address homelessness, and it reverses evidence-based practices and programs in a way that would take us back to ideas and principles that have long been demonstrated to not be effective at ending homelessness,' Riegel said. Director of the Cleveland Department of Public Health Dr. David Margolius questioned whether the Trump administration has thought through the logistics of the order. 'If someone is unable to find a shelter bed, or is living in an overflowing shelter, or living outside in the woods, how could they possibly be able to get into a stable environment with treatment, making appointments and taking medications every day?' he asked. Several studies show Housing First offers 'greater long-term housing stability, especially among people experiencing chronic homelessness' compared to the treatment-first model, according to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. 'When we give people Housing First, they're able to go to doctors' appointments, they're able to access care, they're able to seek out treatment because they're no longer just simply in survival mode,' said Christopher Knestrick, executive director of Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless. Riegel emphasized that it's Housing First, not housing only. 'With Housing First, it really is that you have the housing unit, and once your life is stabilized and you have that basic need in place, it is easier to address higher level needs within your life that may be creating challenges for you,' she said. Homelessness in the U.S. increased 18% last year with 771,480 people experiencing homelessness, according to HUD. There were 11,759 people experiencing homelessness in Ohio last year— about a 3% increase, according to the HUD. Nearly 80% of those experiencing homelessness in Ohio were sheltered while the rest were unsheltered. More than 170 unsheltered people in Cleveland have been provided stable housing through the city's A Home for Every Neighbor initiative that launched a year ago, Margolius said. There were 2,556 people experiencing homelessness in Franklin County during January's Point-in-Time Count — a 7.4% increase from last year, according to the Community Shelter Board. Ohioans need to be making at least $22.51 an hour working a full-time job to be able to afford a 'modest' two-bedroom apartment, according to COHHIO and the National Low Income Housing Coalition's 2025 Out of Reach report. 'I think if we understand anything about homelessness, homelessness is really a problem around affordable housing and the ability to access housing in people's lives,' Knestrick said. 'If we want to end homelessness, what we need to do is invest in affordable housing.' Trump's order directs the secretaries of Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, and Health and Human Services to assess federal grant programs and prioritize funding to cities that curb open drug use and homeless encampments. 'At a time when unaddressed housing costs are driving record numbers of people into homelessness, this order demonstrates a lack of focus and understanding on what our communities — both red and blue — need to address this crisis,' National Alliance to End Homelessness CEO Ann Oliva said in a statement. 'Instead, it largely focuses on punishing people for being homeless and denying desperately needed funds to overwhelmed and under-resourced frontline workers.' Follow OCJ Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Solve the daily Crossword
CBS News
24-07-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
San Francisco will fund rental subsidies, end 90-day shelter limit for homeless families
Homeless families in San Francisco are celebrating two key wins to help them stay off the streets. One would end the city's experimental policy to limit shelter stays to 90 days. The other will provide crucial funding to help families find housing. Months of negotiations came to an end as the Board of Supervisors and Mayor Daniel Lurie's office finalized details to help homeless families. "What it boils down to is the kids," said Jennifer Friedenbach, the Executive Director of the Coalition on Homelessness. "Having a safe and decent place to call home is really transformative for the children to have a table to sit at, to have a lock on the door. I mean, it makes all the difference in the world." Friedenbach said the number of families experiencing homelessness has doubled this year. The funding of $30 million for rental subsidies and the end of shelter evictions will help provide kids some peace of mind. "The impact on kids is quite devastating," she said. "They have a much higher increased chance of experiencing or witnessing violence. Their educational outcomes are dramatically diminished." District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder played a critical role in making sure money from Prop C, the Our City Our Home Fund, is diverted back to families. She said the number one reason people fall into homelessness is job loss, and city governments are having to find ways to fund crucial services despite facing budget deficits. "While the federal government is prioritizing funding for ICE, tax breaks for corporations," said Supervisor Fielder. "We're having to pick up the tab here locally in San Francisco, where we're at a point people who have fallen through the cracks, and there are thousands of people." Homeless families are often the ones left behind. According to the Coalition on Homelessness, families make up 40% of the homeless population but only get 9% of the resources available. "What we see again and again is the policy makers prioritize more visual elements of the homeless population and completely ignore the invisible people and families are invisible," said Friedenbach. While the end of the 90-day shelter evictions will likely increase wait times for new families to get into shelters, Friedenbach said kicking people out only created fake successes. She said the key is to make sure enough housing is available. "We've long kind of balanced this idea between longer waits versus putting people out," she said. "And have landed on the spot of once we're investing in folks, let's take them to the finish line. Let's make sure they can move out of shelter into housing. And let's do that as quickly as possible so that another family who's in need can move in."
The Guardian
22-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
San Francisco to ban RV living as mayor pledges street ‘cleanup'
San Francisco is set to ban homeless people from living in RVs by adopting strict new parking limits the mayor says are necessary to keep sidewalks clear and prevent trash buildup. The policy, up for final approval by San Francisco supervisors on Tuesday, targets at least 400 recreational vehicles in the city of 800,000 people. The RVs serve as shelter for people who cannot afford housing, including immigrant families with kids. Those who live in them say they are a necessary option in an expensive city where affordable apartments are impossible to find. But Mayor Daniel Lurie and other supporters of the policy say motor homes are not suitable for long-term living and the city has a duty to both provide shelter to those in need and clean up the streets. 'We absolutely want to serve those families, those who are in crisis across San Francisco,' said Kunal Modi, who advises the mayor on health, homelessness and family services. 'We feel the responsibility to help them get to a stable solution. And at the same time, we want to make sure that that stability is somewhere indoors and not exposed in the public roadway.' Critics of the plan, however, say it is cruel to force people to give up their only home in exchange for a shot at traditional housing when there are not nearly enough units for all the people who need help; the mayor is only offering additional money to help 65 households. Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness, says city officials are woefully behind on establishing details of an accompanying permit program, which will exempt RV residents from parking limits so long as they are working with homeless outreach staff to find housing. 'I think that there's going to be people who lose their RVs. I think there's going to be people who are able to get into shelter, but at the expense' of people with higher needs, like those sleeping on a sidewalk, she said. San Francisco, like other US cities, has seen an explosion in recent years of people living out of vehicles and RVs as the cost of living has risen. Banning oversized vehicles is part of Lurie's pledge to clean up San Francisco streets, and part of a growing trend to require homeless people to accept offers of shelter or risk arrest or tows. The proposal sets a two-hour parking limit citywide for all RVs and oversized vehicles longer than 22ft (7 metres) or higher than 7ft, regardless of whether they are being used as housing. Under the accompanying permit program, RV residents registered with the city as of May are exempt from the parking limits. In exchange, they must accept the city's offer of temporary or longer-term housing, and get rid of their RV when it is time to move. The city has budgeted more than half a million dollars to buy RVs from residents at $175 per foot. The permits will last for six months. People in RVs who arrive after May will not be eligible for the permit program and must abide by the two-hour rule, which makes it impossible for a family in an RV to live within city limits. It first cleared the board of supervisors last week with two of 11 supervisors voting no. Carlos Perez, 55, was among RV residents who told supervisors at a hearing this month that they could not afford the city's high rents. Perez works full-time as a produce deliveryman and supports his brother, who lives with him and is unable to work due to a disability. 'We don't do nothing wrong. We try to keep this street clean,' he said, as he showed his RV recently to an Associated Press journalist. 'It's not easy to be in a place like this.' Yet, Perez also loves where he lives. The green-colored RV is decorated with a homey houseplant and has a sink and a tiny stove on which Carlos simmered a bean soup on a recent afternoon. He has lived in San Francisco for more than 30 years, roughly a decade of which has been in the RV in the working-class Bayview neighborhood. He can walk to work and it is close to the hospital where his brother receives dialysis multiple times a week. Zach, another RV resident who requested being identified by his first name to not jeopardize his ability to get work, started living in the vehicle a dozen years ago after realizing that no matter how hard he worked, he still struggled to pay rent. Now he works as a ride-hail driver and pursues his love of photography. He parks near Lake Merced in the city near the Pacific Ocean and pays $35 every two to four weeks to properly dispose of waste and fill the vehicle with fresh water. He says Lurie's plan is shortsighted. There is not enough housing available and many prefer to live in an RV over staying at a shelter, which may have restrictive rules. For Zach, who is able-bodied, maintains a clean space and has no dependents, moving to a shelter would be a step down, he says. Still, he expects to receive a permit. 'If housing were affordable, there is a very good chance I wouldn't be out here,' he said. RV dwellers say San Francisco should open a safe parking lot where residents could empty trash and access electricity. But city officials shuttered an RV lot in April, saying it cost about $4m a year to service three dozen large vehicles and it failed to transition people to more stable housing. The mayor's new proposal comes with more money for beefed-up RV parking enforcement – but also an additional $11m, largely for a small number of households to move to subsidized housing for a few years. Officials acknowledge that may not be sufficient to house all RV dwellers, but notes that the city also has hotel vouchers and other housing subsidies. Erica Kisch, CEO of non-profit Compass Family Services, which assists homeless families, says they do not support the punitive nature of the proposal but are grateful for the extra resources. 'It's recognition that households should not be living in vehicles, that we need to do better for families, and for seniors and for anyone else who's living in a vehicle,' she said. 'San Francisco can do better, certainly.'
The Guardian
22-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
San Francisco to ban RV living as mayor pledges street ‘clean-up'
San Francisco is set to ban homeless people from living in RVs by adopting strict new parking limits the mayor says are necessary to keep sidewalks clear and prevent trash buildup. The policy, up for final approval by San Francisco supervisors Tuesday, targets at least 400 recreational vehicles in the city of 800,000 people. The RVs serve as shelter for people who can't afford housing, including immigrant families with kids. Those who live in them say they're a necessary option in an expensive city where affordable apartments are impossible to find. But Mayor Daniel Lurie and other supporters of the policy say motor homes are not suitable for long-term living and the city has a duty to both provide shelter to those in need and clean up the streets. 'We absolutely want to serve those families, those who are in crisis across San Francisco,' said Kunal Modi, who advises the mayor on health, homelessness and family services. 'We feel the responsibility to help them get to a stable solution. And at the same time, we want to make sure that that stability is somewhere indoors and not exposed in the public roadway.' Critics of the plan, however, say that it's cruel to force people to give up their only home in exchange for a shot at traditional housing when there is not nearly enough units for all the people who need help; the mayor is only offering additional money to help 65 households. Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness, says city officials are woefully behind on establishing details of an accompanying permit program, which will exempt RV residents from parking limits so long as they are working with homeless outreach staff to find housing. 'I think that there's going to be people who lose their RVs. I think there's going to be people who are able to get into shelter, but at the expense' of people with higher needs, like those sleeping on a sidewalk, she said. San Francisco, like other U.S. cities, has seen an explosion in recent years of people living out of vehicles and RVs as the cost of living has risen. Banning oversized vehicles is part of Lurie's pledge to clean up San Francisco streets, and part of a growing trend to require homeless people to accept offers of shelter or risk arrest or tows. The proposal sets a two-hour parking limit citywide for all RVs and oversized vehicles longer than 22ft (7 metres) or higher than 7ft (2 metres), regardless of whether they are being used as housing. Under the accompanying permit program, RV residents registered with the city as of May are exempt from the parking limits. In exchange, they must accept the city's offer of temporary or longer-term housing, and get rid of their RV when it's time to move. The city has budgeted more than half a million dollars to buy RVs from residents at $175 per foot. The permits will last for six months. People in RVs who arrive after May will not be eligible for the permit program and must abide by the two-hour rule, which makes it impossible for a family in an RV to live within city limits. It first cleared the Board of Supervisors last week with two of 11 supervisors voting 'no.' Carlos Perez, 55, was among RV residents who told supervisors at a hearing this month that they could not afford the city's high rents. Perez works full-time as a produce deliveryman and supports his brother, who lives with him and is unable to work due to a disability. 'We don't do nothing wrong. We try to keep this street clean,' he said, as he showed his RV recently to an Associated Press journalist. 'It's not easy to be in a place like this.' Yet, Perez also loves where he lives. The green-colored RV is decorated with a homey houseplant and has a sink and a tiny stove on which Carlos simmered a bean soup on a recent afternoon. He's lived in San Francisco for more than 30 years, roughly a decade of which has been in the RV in the working-class Bayview neighborhood. He can walk to work and it is close to the hospital where his brother receives dialysis multiple times a week. Zach, another RV resident who requested being identified by his first name to not jeopardize his ability to get work, started living in the vehicle a dozen years ago after realizing that no matter how hard he worked, he still struggled to pay rent. Now he works as a ride-hail driver and pursues his love of photography. He parks near Lake Merced in the city near the Pacific Ocean and pays $35 every two to four weeks to properly dispose of waste and fill the vehicle with fresh water. He says Lurie's plan is shortsighted. There is not enough housing available and many prefer to live in an RV over staying at a shelter, which may have restrictive rules. For Zach, who is able-bodied, maintains a clean space and has no dependents, moving to a shelter would be a step down, he says. Still, he expects to receive a permit. 'If housing were affordable, there is a very good chance I wouldn't be out here,' he said. RV dwellers say San Francisco should open a safe parking lot where residents could empty trash and access electricity. But city officials shuttered an RV lot in April, saying it cost about $4m a year to service three dozen large vehicles and it failed to transition people to more stable housing. The mayor's new proposal comes with more money for beefed-up RV parking enforcement – but also an additional $11m , largely for a small number of households to move to subsidized housing for a few years. Officials acknowledge that may not be sufficient to house all RV dwellers, but notes that the city also has hotel vouchers and other housing subsidies. Erica Kisch, CEO of non-profit Compass Family Services, which assists homeless families, says they do not support the punitive nature of the proposal but are grateful for the extra resources. 'It's recognition that households should not be living in vehicles, that we need to do better for families, and for seniors and for anyone else who's living in a vehicle,' she said. 'San Francisco can do better, certainly.'
CTV News
22-07-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
San Francisco to ban homeless people from living in RVs with new parking limit
SAN FRANCISCO— San Francisco is set to ban homeless people from living in RVs by adopting strict new parking limits the mayor says are necessary to keep sidewalks clear and prevent trash buildup. The policy, up for final approval by San Francisco supervisors Tuesday, targets at least 400 recreational vehicles in the city of 800,000 people. The RVs serve as shelter for people who can't afford housing, including immigrant families with kids. Those who live in them say they're a necessary option in an expensive city where affordable apartments are impossible to find. But Mayor Daniel Lurie and other supporters of the policy say motor homes are not suitable for long-term living and the city has a duty to both provide shelter to those in need and clean up the streets. 'We absolutely want to serve those families, those who are in crisis across San Francisco,' said Kunal Modi, who advises the mayor on health, homelessness and family services. 'We feel the responsibility to help them get to a stable solution. And at the same time, we want to make sure that that stability is somewhere indoors and not exposed in the public roadway.' Critics of the plan, however, say that it's cruel to force people to give up their only home in exchange for a shot at traditional housing when there is not nearly enough units for all the people who need help; the mayor is only offering additional money to help 65 households. Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness, says city officials are woefully behind on establishing details of an accompanying permit program, which will exempt RV residents from parking limits so long as they are working with homeless outreach staff to find housing. 'I think that there's going to be people who lose their RVs. I think there's going to be people who are able to get into shelter, but at the expense' of people with higher needs, like those sleeping on a sidewalk, she said. San Francisco, like other U.S. cities, has seen an explosion in recent years of people living out of vehicles and RVs as the cost of living has risen. Banning oversized vehicles is part of Lurie's pledge to clean up San Francisco streets, and part of a growing trend to require homeless people to accept offers of shelter or risk arrest or tows. Strict new rules The proposal sets a two-hour parking limit citywide for all RVs and oversized vehicles longer than 22 feet (7 meters) or higher than 7 feet (2 meters), regardless of whether they are being used as housing. Under the accompanying permit program, RV residents registered with the city as of May are exempt from the parking limits. In exchange, they must accept the city's offer of temporary or longer-term housing, and get rid of their RV when it's time to move. The city has budgeted more than half a million dollars to buy RVs from residents at $175 per foot. The permits will last for six months. People in RVs who arrive after May will not be eligible for the permit program and must abide by the two-hour rule, which makes it impossible for a family in an RV to live within city limits. It first cleared the Board of Supervisors last week with two of 11 supervisors voting 'no.' RV dwellers can't afford rent Carlos Perez, 55, was among RV residents who told supervisors at a hearing this month that they could not afford the city's high rents. Perez works full-time as a produce deliveryman and supports his brother, who lives with him and is unable to work due to a disability. 'We don't do nothing wrong. We try to keep this street clean,' he said, as he showed his RV recently to an Associated Press journalist. 'It's not easy to be in a place like this.' Yet, Perez also loves where he lives. The green-colored RV is decorated with a homey houseplant and has a sink and a tiny stove on which Carlos simmered a bean soup on a recent afternoon. He's lived in San Francisco for more than 30 years, roughly a decade of which has been in the RV in the working-class Bayview neighborhood. He can walk to work and it is close to the hospital where his brother receives dialysis multiple times a week. Zach, another RV resident who requested being identified by his first name to not jeopardize his ability to get work, started living in the vehicle a dozen years ago after realizing that no matter how hard he worked, he still struggled to pay rent. Now he works as a ride-hail driver and pursues his love of photography. He parks near Lake Merced in the city near the Pacific Ocean and pays US$35 every two to four weeks to properly dispose of waste and fill the vehicle with fresh water. He says Lurie's plan is shortsighted. There is not enough housing available and many prefer to live in an RV over staying at a shelter, which may have restrictive rules. For Zach, who is able-bodied, maintains a clean space and has no dependents, moving to a shelter would be a step down, he says. Still, he expects to receive a permit. 'If housing were affordable, there is a very good chance I wouldn't be out here,' he said. City recently closed its only RV lot RV dwellers say San Francisco should open a safe parking lot where residents could empty trash and access electricity. But city officials shuttered an RV lot in April, saying it cost about $4 million a year to service three dozen large vehicles and it failed to transition people to more stable housing. The mayor's new proposal comes with more money for beefed-up RV parking enforcement — but also an additional $11 million, largely for a small number of households to move to subsidized housing for a few years. Officials acknowledge that may not be sufficient to house all RV dwellers, but notes that the city also has hotel vouchers and other housing subsidies. Erica Kisch, CEO of nonprofit Compass Family Services, which assists homeless families, says they do not support the punitive nature of the proposal but are grateful for the extra resources. 'It's recognition that households should not be living in vehicles, that we need to do better for families, and for seniors and for anyone else who's living in a vehicle,' she said. 'San Francisco can do better, certainly.' Janie Har and Terry Chea, The Associated Press
