>> hello, good morning. jennifer from the coalition on homelessness. i think that all of us here today think it is a wonderful thing to see how things have changed over the last several weeks. we went from a situation where we had an action plan laid out by homeless families who had no response from the city to a " in the paper claiming a huge rise -- quote in the paper claiming that this huge rise in homeless families was not a crisis, to what was indeed, as we can agree on now, a crisis. this is a testament to the homeless families standing up with courage, side by side with service providers, making sure that the media embraces their voices and here's the tragic stories of the families in san francisco today. has led to this huge outpouring

where families have been joined by teachers, nurses, private citizens and donors to really address this response. that is what i think, at least we believe, the embracing of this fundamental right to housing is. we would like to see, as we step forward, an engagement directly with homeless families and service providers to figure out the best way to respond to this. we would like to see an inclusion of every family in crisis. not just families with school- age children, although it is important -- due to the educational impact. [tone] we also want to make sure that the impact on how -- newborns and homeless children, 0-5, is addressed. we would like to see a list of the families living in hotels, who for some reason are not on the list for shelter -- families living in cars, these situations

that we cannot comprehensively addressed until we meet that time -- [tone] when there are not men, women, and children living on the streets of san francisco. thank you. supervisor avalos: thank you very much. hello. excuse me for being emotional because of my condition. my name is and that,sa and i -- is annette. in nine months pregnant. i have been waiting on the housing list for three years. i finally get my -- what did you call that? appointment. they say that i will get a unit in six weeks to eight weeks. then they give you the run around with paperwork. then they say that i am

ineligible because of a misdemeanor charge. now, i go to legal aid and they changed their tune. they did not -- now they say that they did not say that i wasn't eligible. it has been six months, waiting for unit. i have been in a shelter. in this shelter, there are more and more families and no beds. it is sad. they do not have enough for the families who are homeless. a lot more pregnant women have become homeless. and i think it is because of the same problem that i thought would happen. i hear stories about this city worker giving them problems getting their housing units. [tone]

i think it would be good that maybe by the next holiday, a lot of us have houses. thank you. supervisor avalos: thank you. next speaker, please. [applause] i appreciate your coming and telling your story. i know it is very hard. it is important that we know. >> [speaking foreign language]

>> hello, my daughter and i lived in a shelter. we are asking for a house. a better place to live. we are demanding a solution to this problem. actually, today my husband left us. we are alone in these shelters. >> [speaking foreign language] >> the separation between my husband and i is due to economic problems. when we arrived at this country, we had no job. >> [speaking foreign language]

>> today, when i arrive to this country, we looked around for jobs. we walked through the city and could not find anything. today, myself i found a job. i support my child by myself. it takes everything possible for me to support her. >> [speaking foreign language]

>> i said that i had to tell these people that we need these houses. i am here, talking to you. begging -- not begging, demanding a solution to this problem. we are thankful.

and when she is alone with the daughter, they are doing better than they were with the husband. but the problem is it is not just about housing. it is what you people can do. a lot of things to find solutions to this problem. [tone] >> [speaking foreign language] >> she said that she woke up this morning to fight for this. to support her daughter and leave with her this life. thank you. supervisor avalos: thank you. [applause]

>> [speaking foreign language] >> good morning. my name is nosorio. i came here today for -- [speaking foreign language] >> [speaking foreign language] >> she came today to ask for help. she is struggling. she is struggling with the life she is going through now, with four kids. her husband does not work now. she cannot work now. she cannot get a bigger place, due to their economic situation.

>> [speaking foreign language] >> sometimes she thinks to take her family to shelters, but the people there said careful and have no place for them. >> [speaking foreign language] >> sometimes she asks when they will have space for themselves. a place to live. to play. >> [speaking foreign language] >> she fills out a lot of applications, but every single place tells her that they are full. they have. >> [speaking foreign language] -- they have no space.

>> [speaking foreign language] >> the place that they live now, her daughter needs something to cover her ears so that she can sleep. if they wake up in time, they feel tired because they cannot sleep well. >> [speaking foreign language] >> she says that the kids deserve a better place to live. they ask why this country, this city is so rich, why there are so many homeless on the streets. she cannot give an answer to this question.

>> [speaking foreign language] >> she is asking for some help. she is asking for the help of you people to get a solution to this problem. thank you. >> [speaking foreign language] >> she asked not just for adults, but for the children. it is for the future of this country. thank you. [tone] [applause] >> hello, good morning. my name is barbara. i am a business owner and employer in san francisco. i just started to get involved

over the last couple of weeks to volunteer to help the homeless. i can see what a big problem is. i was concerned by some things that i read in the newspaper, that the city was not taking this problem as seriously as it seemed to need to. i see some of that changing over the last couple of days. i am here to stand up for the homeless in san francisco. there is a woman asked me to read her statement. she is not able to stand up. you will hear why. this is from this woman -- to the mayor, i came here to give support to the people who are homeless, and their families. because of my situation, i have to secure my identity to protect my safety and children. i am homeless. i became homeless because my

domestic partner worked in the same company as i did, but he was violent. i was forced to leave my home to escape his violent behavior in get a better environment for my children and the transition has been difficult. i am going to school let this time. i lost my job because of a domestic issue. i have three daughters, however two are currently not staying with me because of the domestic violence situation. i am currently separated from my two daughters. i am currently staying at the shelter, doing my best to finish my program, battering myself and this -- battering myself." that is one example. one thing, even the founder of capitalism -- adam smith -- touted -- [tone]

as the free enterprise man, said "no civilization should allow the poor is to go without the basics of food, -- poorest to go without the basics of food, clothing, and shelter." i am here to do whatever i can to help, along with these people, right now. [applause] >> [speaking foreign language] >> hello, my name is juan. >> [speaking foreign language] >> i speak for all of my family. >> [speaking foreign language] >> under the condition -- >> [speaking foreign language] >> that we are homeless right now. >> [speaking foreign language]

>> we live in a shelter. let's [speaking foreign language] >> but it is temporary. >> [speaking foreign language] >> because they closed next year, i do not know what will happen with my family. >> [speaking foreign language] >> we are all here to ask for your support. >> and we ask for a mayor -- a meeting with the mayor as soon as possible. we need a solution to this problem. >> [speaking foreign language] supervisor avalos: gracias.

next speaker, please. [applause] >> my name is carmen. >> [speaking foreign language] >> i am here to support the people who have no place to live. we know that the problem was not this big before. we believe that you have the tools on hand to give you the solution to this problem. >> [speaking foreign language]

>> today it is cold. what the homeless people have to go through, day-by-day, believe that you can give these people a better place to live. you can have a solution to this problem. the people will have a better life. >> [speaking foreign language]

>> last month we came to ask the mayor to have a meeting with him. but he did not have a date for something like that. he can give the solutions to many problems in these meetings. the only thing that we ask for is a meeting and we can talk about it. >> [speaking foreign language] >> she says that she knows that

you have enough units to give a family a place to live that they can call home. she said that covering the problem like it does not exist is not the solution. there is a solution on your hands and you can do it. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. next speaker, please. -- supervisor avalos: thank you. next speaker, please. >> [speaking foreign language] >> good morning, my name is

kenya valdez. i was homeless many years ago. thanks to the coalition and their support, i was able to get a place to live now. >> [speaking foreign language] >> now that i have a place to live, i can only think of those who do not have a place to stay. >> [speaking foreign language] >> i do not want to forget those times when i did not have a place to stay. i want to go in front of the mayor to let him know that the same right that he has to stay with his family in a safe place is for any family here in the

city. >> [speaking foreign language] >> in the past year, there has been a difficult time for housing for everyone. i can see now that the situation is even worse. there are too many kids from the school that do not have a place to stay. we demand an answer from the city. god bless you. [applause] >> [speaking foreign language] >> my name is raul valdez.

>> [speaking foreign language] [applause] >> he is representing the families that do not have a place to live and is asked -- also asking for the mayor to give different opportunities. >> [speaking foreign language] >> hello, my name is jusenia. >> [speaking foreign language] >> i am homeless. my daughter with me, she has never had a place to stay since she was born.

>> [speaking foreign language] >> i do not feel that it is fair that we are being denied a place of safety when we know that there are empty units available. >> [speaking foreign language] >> i would like this christmas to be able to stay in my house and be with my daughter. right now, i am in a shelter, and i cannot go back to being homeless. >> [speaking foreign language]

>> we are really desperate. we want the mayor to give us the opportunity to talk to him directly, as we have been asking for for a very long time. thank you. [applause] supervisor avalos: thank you very much. next speaker, please. >> [speaking foreign language] >> hello, my name is morris. >> [speaking foreign language]

>> we have been in a shelter, from shelter to shelter, for the past few years, since my daughter was born. it has made our life very difficult. we feel that it is not a safe place for us to leave our daughter behind and give the possibility of finding a job or something where we can provide for her. >> [speaking foreign language]

>> we are thankful because we have a shelter and a place to spend the night. we understand that there are many other people in the industry, where if any of you -- that there are many other people on the streets. what the city and look with your own eyes. there are people out there that could die because they do not have a place for themselves. >> [speaking foreign language] >> we are only asking for a place to live. we are not asking for anything else. we want to meet with the mayor and asking to help us with this. >> [speaking foreign language] >> thank you. [applause]

>> my name is patricia jones. i am the mother of three. i am currently homeless right now. i live with a lot of other families. today i am very emotional. there are a lot of us out here crying out for homes for our children. someone decided that we are not worthy enough to have these spaces. a shelter is not a safe place for a child. definitely not for mine. not for yours. not for anyone. in the shelters, a lot of things go on. they are not monitored. whoever comes off the street is welcome to come there and live with our children. we do not know their history. they do not know hours. our children have gotten sick in

the shelters. our children had to be hospitalized. i am making a dying plea and also asking the mayor to personally come down to the ocean shelter at 211 13th and mission and join me and my family and stay with us for one night so that he can understand the seriousness that we are experiencing. [applause] >> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is sarah short. i am really happy to hear that 31 housing units will be offered to homeless families. i am really, really angry and sad that it took a press conference, a rally, a