What is driving the rise in family homelessness in San Francisco?

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Arriving in San Francisco from Nicaragua in September, 11-year-old Enyel Cruz learned the value of a good night’s rest.

In a unique shelter for public school children and their families at Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8 Community School, a football-loving sixth grader sleeps on a gym mat with his parents and 15-year-old sister. During the day, the mats are piled up to make room for regular student activities at the Mission County Bilingual School.

“I had a good night’s sleep in Nicaragua,” Enyel said in Spanish through an interpreter. – My back hurts.

In the afternoon, Eniel studies after school while his sister does her homework at McDonald’s. In the evenings, the whole family gathers again to enter the orphanage. The next morning they wake up at 6 am to clean up. The children return to school, while parents Juan Gómez and Silvia Cruz are looking for work while waiting for help with their asylum cases.

Gomez, who grew up on Guerrero Street before being deported to Nicaragua, praised the stay program run by Dolores Street Community Service. But the constant rewinding back and forth tires the family.

Asked what he wants from home, Enyel replied simply, “Eat well, be stable, don’t get up at 6am.”

“It’s hard for us to get up in the morning,” Gomez said of the shelter. “Especially when you have nowhere to go. If you don’t work and sometimes don’t have money, it affects you a little. Besides, I don’t like seeing my kids like that.”

(From left) Eniel Cruz, Juan Gomez, Silvia Cruz and Ashley Argüello Cruz pose for a portrait at Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8 Community School. | Alexis Quaresma for The Standard

Rise in family homelessness

The Gomez-Cruz family is part of a growing number of homeless families in San Francisco. This phenomenon is partly driven by the loss of employment, the high cost of living, and the surge in the number of asylum seekers. In the final quarter of 2022, the city registered 616 homeless families participating in response programs, up from 578 families in the previous three months.

At a January 13 homelessness hearing convened by Supervisor Hillary Ronen, the Department of Homeless Affairs and Assisted Housing said the city registered 493 families in its homelessness response system during the same fall/winter 2021 period.

The San Francisco Unified School District counted 2,061 students who were homeless, as reported by their families. The district includes students who live in SROs or who live with other families in their count.

Of the 2,090 homeless students in the 2020-21 school year, 44% were Hispanic, 24% Chinese, 14% Black, and 4.7% Filipino.

The upcoming closure of the Oasis Family Shelter in December resulted in a shortage of beds in the general family shelter system, forcing families to camp outside of Buena Vista Horace Mann (BVHM) while waiting for a location. Since then, Oasis has reopened and BVHM’s sojourn program opportunities have increased.

Buena Vista Horace Mann is partnering with Dolores Street Community Services to provide a unique housing program for families, many of whom are recent immigrants from Latin America. | Alexis Quaresma for The Standard

In the vast majority of cases, homeless households are headed by women. This year, the city will add a couple hundred units of permanent family assisted housing and a couple hundred more to subsidize rent.

But sooner or later demand may exceed even this increased capacity.

“We are at the very edge of our capabilities,” said Richard Whipple, acting director of the Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs. “Non-profit partners go far beyond their capabilities. More people come every day. We are in a very dangerous position.”

“All beginnings are difficult”

Families seek shelter as a result of housing instability due to job loss, eviction notices they do not fight due to fear, release from immigration detention centers, or seeking work in rural areas where they can end up living on their vehicles. . According to Executive Director Laura Valdez, many of the families that Dolores Street Community Service works with either have a history of domestic violence or are at the center of it.

This surge is partly due to the influx of asylum seekers. Of the more than 620 immigrant students who will arrive in SFUSD in 2022, more than 80% will be asylum seekers, like the children of Gomez-Cruz, according to Whipple.

Of the 10 families in the BVHM shelter as of January 13, three are from Peru and three from Nicaragua, while the rest are from El Salvador, South Africa, Slovakia and Guatemala.

José Mendoza and Maritza Guiterres settled with their children aged 6, 15 and 22 at the BVHM shelter last week after fleeing political instability in Nicaragua.

(From left) Maritza Gutierrez, Alexa Mendoza, Jose Mendoza, Joseph Mendoza and Carlos Rivas pose for a portrait at Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8 Community School. | Alexis Quaresma for The Standard

Until their asylum case is processed and a lawyer assigned to them, both parents do not have work permits to improve employment opportunities and the stability for their families that comes with it.

According to Whipple, the San Francisco Immigration Legal Defense Collaborative is seeing “record waiting lists for representation.”

“There can be no peace on the streets,” the electrician Mendoza said in Spanish through an interpreter. “We have no other choice. All beginnings are difficult.”

Mendoza said his 6-year-old son thinks it “looks like a game”. His 15-year-old was waiting to begin his studies at SFUSD, while his 22-year-old son, who had to give up his Nicaraguan degree aspirations, was in the process of applying to City College.

At 11, Eniel already sees a future beyond this instability. He has known for a couple of years that he wants to be a footballer like Cristiano Ronaldo or a lawyer. The first career choice he identified was to become an architect.

“To build a house,” he said.

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texasstandard.news contributed to this report.

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