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Homeless Chronicles

Boy, that was some kind of nightmare! The stories are true! The homeless are invisible. Simply arranging for a place to sleep was a major project. SF has adopted a new policy in recent years inappropriately titled "Care Not Cash". When the pretty boy mayor was elected 6 years ago, he ceased the former policy of handing out $495/month and declared "accessible" services would replace that policy. It is clear he was never at the mercy of the system.

The Shelter Reservation System

In order to reserve a space (It sounds like some high-class hotel doesn't it? It tells you something about the mindset of the people who designed this set up.) It's required that you go to a "drop-in center" where you check-in. Then they send you to another location to wait in yet another line to be assigned a number.

They tell you to return at 7PM to wait again for a number and return at 9PM whereupon you wait in line by number and sign up for your desired shelter. Clients (I love the euphemisms) are then told to go back to the drop-in center and wait until 10PM at which time location assignments are made, which may or may not be in close proximity to where you are currently located (most often not). Most nights you bed down by 11PM (wake up is at 5:30AM).

There is a process by which you can make your reservations for 3-7 days, which also requires queuing up in various lines but with no guarantee of getting the desired location (most often not). I usually ended up at Ella Hill Hutch, a gymnasium by day, which consisted of approximately 150 mats laid out over the gym floor. The manager of this place was a super-sized Aunt Jemima of a woman (She easily weighed 400+ lbs) who was a holy terror.

Aunt Jemima

She had a different technique every night. It started with her checking in everyone by last four of SS#. That seemed to work slowly but efficiently however the next night she called out numbers while we stood outside in the fog and chill with everyone crowding the table for sheets and blankets. The next time, she returned to individual numbers only this time I was in for a surprise.

In between all this fun & games, I had received one of my bi-monthly checks of $211 and spent it promptly on one week in a fleabag hotel. This enabled me to wash off the grime of the streets and spend some time indoors for a change. When I had two more days left in my week I had a genius plan. I went down to the drop-in center to renew my reservation early so I would be somewhat ready for my return

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