San Francisco homeless families make appeal to Mayor Daniel Lurie for long-term solutions
Mothers and their children took to the steps of San Francisco city hall to ask Mayor Daniel Lurie to change a policy that evicts families with children after 90 days in city shelters.
"We're struggling but we're struggling together," said Seidy Bermudez, who immigrated from Nicaragua just 15 months ago. She told her story with the help of an interpreter.
Bermudez has two daughters in middle school. Since they arrived, they've been struggling to find a home they can afford.
"It's been a lot of instability," explained Bermudez. "I've stayed in different places for a month, three months, and then I go somewhere else."
Right now, someone she met at church is allowing her family to share their studio apartment, but that's not a permanent solution.
But neither are the homeless shelters. The city's Department of Homelessness currently has a policy of evicting families with children after they spend 90 days in a city shelter.
Members of the United Educators of San Francisco came out to stand beside the mothers hoping to change that.
"What we're hoping will come out of this is we will continue to have dialogue with Mayor Lurie and the Department of Homelessness to address and find solutions for these families," said Geri Almanza.
Almanza has been teaching in the SFUSD school system for years. She believes she can tell when a child is experiencing homelessness.
"Many of our students are coming to school hungry, sleepy," said Almanza about what she sees in the classroom. "The current policy creates a super stressful environment for our families who are constantly looking for housing and working."
District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder thinks there's a simple solution to this problem.
"We can end family homelessness in San Francisco," proclaimed fielder.
She promised to bring forward a proposal, which includes asking the mayor and her colleagues to put $45 million towards housing resources.
"With less than one percent of our general fund we can house 2,000 families," explained Fielder. "That is necessary and it's possible."
Children impacted by homelessness made cards for Lurie and delivered them to his office.
Bermudez says she hopes he will take a good look at them.
"We want to try and reach that human side of him," said Bermudez. "I think together with our hearts and the administrative portion of it we can improve a lot of lives."
