By Lisa Awbrey, HANC President

In the Spring of 2020, during an unprecedented chain of events relating to the COVID-19 shut down and Shelter In Place orders, bold action by San Francisco’s leaders and electeds, neighbors and residents was required. On April 14, 2020, the Board of Supervisors passed unanimous emergency legislation mandating (by an 11-0 vote) that by April 26, the city obtain 8,250 hotel rooms, with 7,000 earmarked for unhoused folks living on the streets and in congregate shelters. But the emergency legislation was never put into effect by the Mayor who quietly refused to fund it. 

On a national level, the CDC (along with global and local level UCSF physicians) continued to caution against the health dangers of congregate living settings (like indoor shelters). UCSF doctors also warned against moving too slowly in obtaining hotel rooms for the City’s most vulnerable: our unhoused people. Medical workers and first responders staged a street demonstration (dubbed a “die in”) in front of Mayor Breed’s home to underscore the crisis in an attempt to spur her to swift action. 

Finally, when the Mayor chose to activate the empty lot at 730 Stanyan for a safe sleeping site where unhoused people could sleep out of doors in safely distanced tents and not in congregate shelters, tensions among local residents were extremely high. Cole Valley Haight Allies (CVHA), a group of local Cole Valley and Haight area residents and small business owners formed with a stated broader goal: “to have a neighborhood that is safe  and humane for all residents, housed and unhoused.” CVHA supports “a just and equitable neighborhood for all neighbors.” CVHA also supports “low income housing and other initiatives that address income inequality in San Francisco.”

CVHA’s stated goals include:

• harm reduction and solutions to provide relief for local unhoused residents such as development of safe sleeping sites and shelters
• systemic change in the form of policies that divest from the policing of unhoused neighbors and invest in sustainable solutions to address the systemic neglect and oppression of unhoused people throughout San Francisco.
• CVHA volunteers offer their time and resources to improve the conditions for unhoused people by working through issues of equity in the neighborhood. 

CVHA and the 730 Stanyan site accept clean, casual clothes, sneakers, new/unused socks/underwear and cloth masks. CVHA also generally accepts first aid kits, baby wipes, packs of water bottles and Gatorade, snack bars, dog food, backpacks, suitcases, sleeping bags and tents. CVHA asks supporters to email first and not show up at the 730 Stanyan site without clearing it first with CVHA.
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Though CVHA previously accepted monetary donations via PayPal to make grocery runs to distribute to local unhoused folks, CVHA now only encourages direct donations to other advocacy organizations like Homeless Youth Alliance/HYA  at https://www.homelessyouthalliance.org   (the operators of the 730 Stanyan safe sleeping village aka “CAMP.” CVHA also encourages donations to SF Neighbors Solidarity Fund (https://venmo.com/SFNeighbors), SF Community Fridge (https://linktr.ee/SFCommunityFridge), Street Medic Couper (https://www.gofundme.com/f/couper-street-medic), and DSA SF’s Hotels Not Hospitals Fund (https://www.hotelsnothospitals.org).

As of this writing, city officials say that CAMP/the safe sleeping site is scheduled to close by June 30, 2021. Please join HANC’s next public meeting on Thursday June 10, 2021 at 7 PM for a discussion with CVHA friends about their work at CAMP and an update on the status of future development at the 730 Stanyan site.