Mothers fearing homelessness and facing eviction from SF shelter get 30-day extension
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- In San Francisco, two mothers with young kids are on the verge of ending up on the streets as city shelters are following a 90-day time limit for stays.
Vilma Arias and Maria Flores woke up Monday morning knowing they would have to break the news to their young kids that their shelter time had reached its limit.
"I don't tell them anything because I don't want them to feel bad," Arias said.
With tears in her eyes, Flores was deciding how to say the news to her 8-year-old son.
"This is a new trauma for him. I don't know what to say to him. I don't know what I'm going to say. I don't know what he will think," Flores said.
After ABC7 spoke with the mothers, the city extended their shelter stay for another 30 days. Their next move-out date is April 10th.
MORE: Families in SF shelters afraid to end up on streets as the city implements 90-day stay limit
Both women are migrants. Flores fled Peru and is seeking asylum in the U.S. and Arias fled from Honduras. They met at the city's Saint Joseph's shelter and joined forces to fight back against their evictions.
Community leaders surrounded them outside their kids' schools as many asked for Mayor Daniel Lurie to intervene. They met with the Mayor two weeks ago and said he promised them no kids would sleep on the streets, yet other families are also set to get evicted next as their time runs out.
"Dozens more will face this same fate this month," said Jim Lichti of the First Mennonite Church SF.
In December of 2024, San Francisco's Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing reinstated the shelter stay limit of 90 days. Something that was on pause during the pandemic.
In a release, the city's homelessness and supportive housing department said in part:
"We believe that our compassionate 90-day timeline with the possibility of three 30-day extensions enables families to take proactive steps in their housing plan."
MORE: SF makes yet another attempt to solve chronic homelessness. Will it work this time?
Arias has had more than three extensions, yet community advocates view the city's approach as wrong.
"The families are supposed to be if they are looking for housing they are in compliance going to their case manager meetings if they have signed up for housing they are not supposed to be evicted if they haven't found housing through no fault of their own. That is the standard," said Jennifer Friedenbach, Executive Director of the Coalition on Homelessness.
To explain the time limit, HSH said, "Lack of active participation in the shelter program can hinder HSH's ability to assist more families in need and lead to a program exit."
Teachers are reporting almost 3,000 students as unhoused throughout the district. Something they say this time limit will worsen.
"We are noticing is that in schools where there is a higher percentage of Latino students or more recently arrived immigrants," said Geri Almanza, an SFUSD teacher. "Almost every single classroom has at least two students that are unhoused from Elementary all the way to high school."
Here is the full statement from HSH:
"The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing remains committed to providing temporary shelter while promoting long-term housing solutions for families in need.
With 300 families on the waiting list for shelter, our shelter policy prioritizes getting families currently in shelter into permanent supportive housing and families on the street into shelter.
We encourage all families within the Homelessness Response System's shelter program to actively engage in the resources, extensions and opportunities available to them in order to progress in their journey towards stability and a permanent housing solution."
