then you have to stand in line and wait for a bed. >> what you told to do? >> you have to keep coming back. >> what kind of bed can you get? >> i have not gotten one. i did not state for the overnight bed. it is too far walk, coming back and forth, back and forth. >> that is what you would have to do. those overnight beds, you understand what they are? the cap recipients? amorite. does not help people that have any other income. so we are stuck out here praying for a bed. i have been on the priority list for a medical bed for conditions. i've been on% were next door, but no sanctuary or next door beds have popped up on the screen because they are gone before 7:00.

i cannot stay because it is too far to get back and forth because i walk. >> are you a senior? or have a physical disability? >> i have degenerated disks. i had a knee replacement that is faulty. i have documents for doctors everywhere that and not supposed to be walking or standing for a long time, and i still have to do it. >> when you get a reservation, you are supposed to be given a token? does that happen? >> i have not gotten one yet. >> thank you very much. are you willing forced to show this to the board of supervisors? >> yes. i have no problem. >> thank you. appreciate it. supervisor kim: thank you. [applause] for the sake of time, it we could hold our applause. i know how to important this issue is to so many people and how a board that it is to express yourself in our hearings, but i want to recognize that a lot of folks

are here to speak, so i want to keep moving. i know your presentation was more on what guidelines you wanted to see in the future. i have a very long staff, and what to make sure people are able to speak. [reading names] i apologize if i was not able to read your name card clearly. thank you. and hello. this is rather new to me. i have never been homeless before. i just happen to have -- to file

for bankruptcy recently, unfortunately. i've owned a home in thehaight -- the haight-ashbury and then fell on hard times. i am in the system for just a little bit, just touched the system, and listening to everything, it scares the hell out of me. it seems to be a disconnect. on one side, all these beautiful services happening, and on the other side, the experience of the people who are the recipients, the consumers, have a different kind of look at it. i had one experience. first of all, i had my old car. i slept in a for five months when i filed for bankruptcy. that was 100% better than being in the system. sleeping out in -- at the ocean. at least i had my own car, went to sleep, got up, had breakfast, etc. the other day, i happen to go down to glide to see if i should

least take a look at the shelter system. it is exactly what they said. i set out there from 4:00 in the morning in the black hole. with 40 people. 25 people in front of me. i got there at 4:00. they sent out a clipboard at 7:00, like from the 1950's, last name first. signed up. two minutes later, call two people. in the digital age? come on. we can do better than that. and it is scary. i just signed up for an sro. i was a teacher, so i paid into a different system than social security. it is not enough money. i am in a rock and a hard spot now. what am i going to do? the system does not seem to be any good. no integrity in the system. it does not work together.

you have got to have it work together, and you have got to do it with intention. supervisor kim: thank you. thank you for sharing. if we keep public comment going, i have a lot of cards, and please come up one after another. normally, i would give more time, but we just have so many people here. >> i am victoria grace, and i would like to have james powell come in before me, and then i will speak. supervisor kim: you do not have to come up in any order. >> i did come up with visual aids. i have one for each and everyone of you, and that also have one to put on the overhead. i am here to speak on the major barrier to access to a shelter beds for seniors.

seniors must often stand in line in the morning at resource centers for long periods of time regardless of physical disability. i will show that to you in a few minutes. it has already been illustrated. the time for standing can be as long as seven hours. after which, if they do not get a bed, they will have to do some traveling. bags in hand. to the next resource center. that could be 3 miles away. bandstand in another line or as much as five hours. if they do not get a bed at that place, they must again travel by foot, bags in hand, to a

final hole and last resort 3 miles distance from that place, to again stand in line for as long as seven hours. the total time that a shelter seeker could spend it is 17 hours, walk 8 miles for four hours, and the implication is that one could spend 20 hours a day seeking shelter. this is an overhead. may i have access to the overhead, please? sorry about that. supervisor kim: thank you. i have to move to our next speaker, though, but i appreciate the presentation that is up there.

>> i do have a visual aid for every one of you. supervisor kim: great. thank you. >> all right. supervisor kim: next speaker, please. that i am is a woman of transgendered history, 66 years old. this is my worst fear, here, the distances that people have to walk around, the elderly with physical disabilities, makes no difference. and no transportation being provided. a good friend of mine lived next door to glide for a while, and every time i went to visit her, sure enough, there will always be a line all the way down the block waiting and waiting and waiting for services, and this is just a tremendous waste of human resources.

transgendered women, gender variant, gender non-conforming people artist -- especially discriminated against in the shelter system, and these will lines -- i've heard a lot of cases of people's in patients being expressed through transphobia, like one man's complaint about men dressing as women in order to get preferential treatment, and that is because there are just flat out not enough beds available and that working conditions for the staff. so i would really like some energy to be put into this. this is serious. supervisor kim: thank you. [applause] my apologies again -- if we could refrain from the applause. i want to make sure that

everyone gets to speak. >> good afternoon, super beat -- supervisors. i bring you greetings from super action network. the 6.5% of homeless groups living with hiv/aids -- there is a great chance sitting in the cold, in the rain, that this person will develop walking pneumonia. i have lived with the virus and had walking pneumonia this year. without proper treatment and proper housing and proper attrition, it could lead to multi organ failure. it is said to see that we live in a rich city, but when it comes down to taking care of our homeless population, we lack in that area. the supplemental income of social security is not enough. the fed's kick in $600 a month. you kick in $296 from the state. that is only $896. including the non-proper hotels, they charge more than 50% of the

income. weber our city departments leader is that said that, let's change places. you give me your income and take my income. we will see who will survive the longest. [applause] supervisor kim: thank you. >> hello. when i first came here, i was almost dead. i needed 6 liters of blood. i was treated like i should be dead. i went to a shelter, and the shelter looked at my bags and said, "we can handle you, but we cannot handle your personal belongings." the man at the door told me, " witt, go in and sit down, and i will get your bags later on. i go in and sit down. the woman at the desk said she would inform me about the rules. the rule was i had to have a thing around my wrist so i could get in and stay in.

that night, i wind up sleeping in a chair. the next morning, i took my bags out, and i went to get a band, and i did get one, when i came back in, demand will be to sit down again, so i sat down. at 10:00, the man cam told me that they had a bit for me. i got in the bid. when i got in the bed, and let my bed behind the door. what was that? the doorman told me to go in and sit down, and they would give me a bed, but the bag could not come in. i wait for about four hours. my bags were not checked, so i went back, and he said not to worry about the backs, they would handle it. just sit down and do what i was asked. i did that, and i got the bed, but my bag stayed behind the door. that morning, the man came and told me they were talking about throwing my personal belongings away. i said i would check and see what was happening. my bags were by the door.

they were moved from one door to the next. so when i got there, i said they were buybacks. they told me to sit down. i went and sat down, here comes a lady about two hours later. "who left those bags there. you have no business leaving these there." i said that the job was to go and ask dorman about the bags. she said i could not talk to her like that -- supervisor kim: you are at time. if you could wrap up your last sentence. >> i just want to let you know, the system needs to be changed. the system needs some order to it. supervisor kim: thank you. [applause] >> my name is mark call again. this is my dog, kramer. we are currently seeking a bed at next door. next door was our home for three and a half weeks.

we had a dispute with the management. we got involved in the hearing process, and then the arbitration process, which be one, and now, we are still without a bed. my dog and i -- i am wheelchair- bound due to a broken leg, but we have been sleeping on the streets, both of us, for 10 nights. we have graciously been accommodated two nights in the next door shelter, but we've made the rounds today to the mission resource center, to ga and to glide a couple of days

ago. there was no room there. i do not know whether we have been blocked in the computer system or whatever, but we have gone through the entire process, have been found not in -- we have been found in compliance with a reservation, and there is none to be had for us. supervisor kim: thank you. can i ask a quick question? i was wondering how you transport yourself between all the centers and shelters. >> in the downhill, i am in my wheelchair, and i use the largess of some bus drivers for free access in my wheelchair with my dog. that is how we get around.

when we are not in -- sleeping in a shelter, i have it that that basically renders me a competent to do any moving around. supervisor kim: thank you. >> ok, kramer. [applause] >> my name is john ellis. i like to say that i stayed at several shelters before i was house. back injury. the talk about budgeting, they do not have a budget for more beds, more this, but and not of the exact figure, but to give some shelter costs about $30 a

night, something like that. someone and up in hospital, you're touching $1,000 to buy thousand dollars per incident. -- you are charging $1,000 to $5,000 per incident. i have been in hospital, and it is getting better, but for the people the state in the shelter system, those numbers are only getting higher, and they do not seem to factor that into the planning, that it is an expensive exercise to deal with. before i was house, i was sent to a unit because of problems i had at msc. if you would like details, i could e-mail them to you. supervisor kim: you are more than welcome to e-mail us more information. [applause] and sorry, i do have to go to

our next speaker. we have close to 50 individuals still waiting to speak, but i will speak with you afterward. >> [inaudible] supervisor kim: thank you. i have not called your card yet. i really do want to get through these names that signed up first. you can speak at the end. i'm sorry, i have to go in the order that i have called. because some people came early early to sign up for speaker cards. thank you. >> good afternoon. my name is arnold. my experience dealing with the shelter was when i first moved out here, the way it was set up what they had a lottery system where you would go to the shelter. when you leave out in the morning, you sign the lottery, your name by the corresponding number, and that afternoon, they would draw all the winners. literally, pretty much everybody got a bid.

-- a bed. years later, they come up with this idea about the changes, i say just complicating the issue is more than resolving them, that it got to the point where i just gave up trying to get into the shelter. i have a friend who had about four or five cars. i would sleep in his car. that way, his cars were being looked out for, and i had somewhere to sleet, but i have something to read for a friend of mine that could not make it up here. "my first experience with the shelter was somewhat exhausting for the first week. i had to except the one-day daily bread and whatever shelter in the city was available. after g i would line aslide every day after dinner with 40 or 50 people, and to decide whether i got a bed or not. i quickly became tired of it, having to pack a bag daily and nightly all over the city -- that is what i learn if i go in

the morning, i could get a 90- day event. i decided to try it. i did not think of all the other people who had the same thought, but i learned quickly enough, both times, there would be no more than two, three, or four beds available. some days, you end up having to leave or come back or go to another resource center that evening and try for another bid. after getting tired" -- anyway, he got rid of most of the stock, decided to go in the line at the dinner, sat on a milk crate from 4:00 p.m. until the next morning, and he got a 90-day bed, and he is now doing pretty much ok, i assume. thank you guys. [applause] supervisor kim: thank you. i am going to call 10 more speaker cards. [reading names]

and i apologize that i'm being so orderly about public comment. i know many people want to speak and i know two minutes is not enough to share your stories, but i appreciate your respect for all the people that are here to speak today. thank you. >> i think to all the presentations and denies boasted that was presented, i think we can pretty much agree that trying to get into the shelter system is pretty much humiliating and degrading, what people have to go through to get into the shelter system. waiting outside at 3:00 at 4:00 in the morning. then, not being sure at all that you will even get a bed. i think that is the most degrading thing after going through what you have to go through, but people are not

really speaking about what happens after you get into the shelter system, what you have to go through the end. that is sometimes even more humiliating and more degrading. i have been in just about every major shelter in this city, and i have only found two to be to my liking, and that is the hospitality house on leavenworth, and the delores street shelter in the mission. those would probably be in my mind, the two best shelters in the city. most are really crack. what makes them crack is the people that runs the shelter. you know, they treat people just because you are homeless, they want to treat you like animals, and that is the one thing that really needs to stop. the people's attitudes that work there. most of them get the job because they are somebody's cousin or something, and they come in with these kind of attitudes and treat you just because you come off the streets -- they want to treat you like you are some kind

of animal. that is the one thing that really needs to stock, and the one thing i can say about it, the one word i can use to label schulz's is they stock. -- -- they suck. you could say it 10 times. shelters scuk. -- suck. [applause] supervisor kim: thank you. next speaker. >> [speaking spanish] >> i feel a little sorry that today i cannot come up here and speak the language, but i will try to express my story.

in the most humble and honorable way that i can, i am here to speak in front of you today. to present to you today my biggest banks -- thanks. i would like to give thanks for you guys giving us -- for creating shelters. for giving people in san

francisco a chance -- or people in san francisco a place to stay who have found themselves in certain circumstances that have made them homeless. he would like to say that the shelter services for delores street are really efficient. especially when you are trying to get a bed for one day or 90 days. and i like to just leave you guys with saying one thing, and that is thank you for the help

and a lot of thanks to all of you. he said he wants to try to make the time to tell you something that is missing from the shelter system. accessibility for the seniors and disabled. accessibility for people who do not speak english. to make the shelter system more easy, accessible, and to

preserve more programs culturally. a system that does not include lines. a system that does not have you traveling for long distances just to find shelter. something that is simple and easy to understand, accessible 24 hours in a system where we can find ourselves a place to sleep for more than one day. supervisor kim: thank you. [applause] [-- >> [speaking spanish]

>> he says that right now, his problem really is not with being turned away for shelter. it is what happens after being turned away from shelter, which is he is a senior now, and it is really hard for him to get over even a common cold. he says he is ashamed of it, but he says that unfortunately, sometimes he has to steal his medicines just to get over a cold. he is grateful for the shelter system but not critical for the facts that it is basically a struggle to get back into good health, good standing so that he can find again shelr