Public school in San Francisco wants to provide shelter for some of its families

Lyanne Melendez Image
Thursday, April 12, 2018
Public school in SF wants to provide shelter for some of its families
A neighborhood once affordable to families, is now the district with the highest number of evictions in San Francisco. Not being able to afford rent in the Mission, many times leads to families being left out on the streets.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A neighborhood once affordable to families, is now the district with the highest number of evictions in San Francisco. Not being able to afford rent in the Mission, many times, leads to families being left out on the streets.

"It is very hard for the moms and the fathers to think everyday about where they can be at overnight, where they can take a meal," a parent Irma Nunez said.

Both the principal and vice principal at Buena Vista Horace Mann School came up with a plan to house some of their families at school. "They would be greeted with a warm meal, they would have a place to do their homework. They would be able to relax, not have to think about where they are going to spend the night, expressed Claudia DeLarios Moran, the vice principal.

The San Francisco Unified School District estimates there are more than 2,000 students considered homeless.

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They are often referred to a "housing insecure" students, meaning they don't have a secure and safe place to sleep at night. The ideas is to house about 20 family inside one of the gyms.

San Francisco Supervisor Hillary Ronen is now spearheading the proposal. The money to fund the temporary shelter would likely come from city hall and possible private donations. The cost to run the shelter would be between $700,000 and $900,000 a year.

"It would cover sufficient staffing to have a high level of security from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., explained Ronen.

For now the city and the school district are working out the details before it's considered by the school board.

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