Homelessness

by anna/pnn

In the year 2001, when Alison Washington, a single mother of two, moved into her new apartment in Northridge Homes, a housing cooperative located in Bayview Hunter’s Point, she was pointing her compass towards success. A year later she went into business for herself, opening a home based learning center in the downstairs of her apartment. The following year, after the passing of her mother, she transformed her grief into support by starting her own faith based family support service ministry S.O.U.R.C.E., Sisters of Unity Reaching Community Entities, which offered community support services such as toys, backpacks, clothing drives, hot feeding programs, and a local food share program which was operated out of St. James Missionary Baptist Church.

For the next three years Alison cultivated her organization into an essential community resource center, anticipating achieving her Non-profit status forming allies with other Bayview organizations as well as winning sponsorships from larger Bay Area organizations. Alison’s course towards success seemed uninterrupted until, in the fall of 2007, she found herself and her family illegally evicted and homeless - along with being told we have no investment moneies to be returned to us. Where did it go? Is her question!

In 2006 Alison’s home was broken into, with nearly everything stolen and leaving her and her children with close to nothing. Pooling together her resources, Alison managed to resume her life, until 2007, when her home was invaded a second time. Again, they were completely violated . Alison fought to regain the life she had before the break-ins, this time using her meager income to install a home security system, and purchased a dog. The damage was done, however, and Alison began to fall behind in her rent.

After finding herself three months behind in rent Alison was served with an eviction notice and sought help from RADCO Eviction Defense, a rental assistance agency. RADCO agreed to pay Alison’s back rent as well as provide her with a monthly stipend, which would guarantee Alison’s rent in the future. When Alison and RADCO attempted to contact (and pay) her landlord, Office Manager Penny Hall and Assistant Yolanda Newton, they received no response. It wasn’t until the day before Alison’s eviction that Hall and Newton responded to them and rejected Alison’s back rent payments, stating that the eviction would continue. The following day, the Sheriffs arrived at Alison’s house, also trying to advocate for their family, but there was no success. By then, she was given 20 minutes to pack her belongings before being forced out of her home and shuttled a hotel, the first of 15 that Alison has lived in for the next two months after that day.

Alison’s mistake wasn’t falling behind on her rent, however. Instead it was choosing to live in Bayview Hunter’s Point, an area that has been targeted as a high crime community, not to forget very expensive. She also tried to remain in her home thinking changes would come about for the better, but it didn't. They lived in an unsafe/unhealthy unit with many repair work orders, which were never fixed. Leaking windows from the rain resulted into sleeping with mold in the room, wet carpet dripping down through the kitchen ceiling onto the floor. Also broken doors off hinges. These work orders were never completed but we constantly received "Sorry we missed you notices from Maintenance, when they knew on Mondays, there was no one going to be home."

The displacement of poor communities of color does not occur only after housing is built, but is a slow deliberate process that begins years before development. This process, which has systematically wiped out black communities such as the Fillmore, West Oakland, and now New Orleans, occurs in areas where market values are high and land is scare.

“We call it ethnic cleansing, to push people out and not give them anything and no say,” say Willy Radcliff, publisher of the San Francisco Bayview newspaper, “The whole city is pushing people out so rich developers can come in and have wealthy people move in. They squeeze the poor and push them out. It’s happening all over the country.”

There are certain elements involved that are responsible for the assassination of gentrified communities. One of these elements is keeping communities poor, specifically by keeping jobs out of the community while rents increase. In Bayview Hunter’s Point the unemployment rate is at 30% and the city has offered a limited amount of direct services in this area, forcing residents to leave the city in order to survive.

“The jobs have never been up here,” says Radcliff, “There’s a conspiracy to keep jobs out of here so they can get the land. They keep jobs away from black people and if you don’t have a job you can’t live in San Francisco.”

Take the hotly debated T-line for example. Initially the project promised jobs to Bayview residents and was touted as a way to promote employment in the area. When ground broke, however, no neighborhood faces were seen working on the line. Instead, in an area that is primarily black, the majority of the construction workers were white.

Jobs weren’t the only sacrifice Bayview residents made for the line. In exchange for the T-line Bayview residents gave up the 15-bus line, which ran every 15 minutes in and out of the Bayview. The T-line runs chaotically and some residents have experienced waits up to three hours, leaving them stranded without a dependable way to get to work or school.

“I think cutting off the service to that area is a way to strangle the existing community,” says Laure McElroy, a former Bayview resident, “Once they get the people out of there they want then service will get better.”

Violence also plays a crucial role in the displacement of communities, where developers have residents trapped on all fronts. Violence feeds violence and whole communities are killing each other off in desperate and ill-fated attempts to negotiate the poverty in their area. For those families who do manage to survive the violence in the Bayview, moving out of the area is the only option to stay alive. Mass media plays a role in advertising sensationalized numbers about the killings and shootings in the Bayview, ensuring that, while families move out seeking sanctuary elsewhere, no one else moves in until the district is thoroughly “cleaned up”.

Alison and her family was a direct victim of this type of violence when her 22-year-old son was shot at late one night. There was no clear reason why, only that her son and his friend were not dealing drugs. After the shooting and eviction, the family was supported through Victim Services, which has bent over backwards to help Alison in her search for housing.

Alison’s eviction has taken its toll on her and her family, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Alison has been in and out of the hospital due to stress related illnesses and her 10-year-old daughter has undergone trauma that has caused her to miss quite a bit of school. The transitional housing shelter system has been very accommodating by placing her daughter, son, dog, and herself in doors with a one-bedroom apartment.

“I’m reliving these incidents every single day as I press forward and support others through their times of grief and discomfort, even in my homelessness,” she says, her voice cracking under the weight of her story, “When is it going to come to the time of living like a normal family again? As a mom, going back to work, to school, and happy.” We stumble upon challenges daily, and everyone deserves a chance get back up. As I, a “Woman of Faith” have and will always continue to travel with the “Armour of God” my hope is to encourage you all that there is hope at the end of all storms!” So many families have lost their strength to go on.”

Alison’s search for housing has been much like her shelter experience. Alison, who refuses to separate her family, is constantly being faced with housing offers that are not adequate for a three-person family, and who's willing to accept a service animal. The shelter and housing system, which are grounded in the Western notion that adulthood equals independence, has been very accommodating to Alison’s family’s needs, but now as time is running out of this dwelling space, it’s leaving them virtually homeless, as they were in the beginning.

“We are temporarily housed at in a shelter and we thank them from the bottom of our hearts,” she concludes, “But we are due to exit in a couple of days and we have no where else to go.”
Unjust evictions and homelessness has to cease, especially when the individuals are trying to make a difference somehow!

Alison would like to thank the following organizations that have supported her through her struggle: S.O.U.R.C.E. Volunteers, City & County of San Francisco Daly City Krispy Kreme Donuts, Dept. of Human Services, City & County of San Francisco Neighborhood Services, City & County of San Francisco District Attorney's Office, City of San Bruno Marine Corps, Clear Channel Radio 98.1 KISS FM, Darlene's Fabrics, Homeless Prenatal Program, Poor Magazine, RADCO Eviction Defense, Safeway Stores, S.F. Sheriffs Office, S.F.P.D./Operation Dream, Shelter Network, St. James M.B. Church

Alison has recently learned that she and her family must move out of the shelter they are staying in this Thursday. They have nowhere to go, if you can help in any way please call 415.863.6306.