disability advocacy groups involved in this activity and jessie lorenz from the independent living resource center, san francisco, could also provide some additional information about that effort they are making for the disability at the can't -- capitol that day. we will now proceed to information item no. 5. an overview of the mayor's office of housing opportunity partnerships and engagement, hope. presentation on the role of hope, it's services, programs and projects, including the new navigation center. presentation by bev an dufty director, thank you for being here before the council. >> i guess about a year 1/2 ago i was here before the council as well so it's a real privilege to come back and speak again. i very much appreciate

partnering with the mayor's office on disability. the mayor's office of housing opportunity, hope is a serves -- service with provide in a city that is so expensive and difficult to maintain. many of our clients do have disabilities and we are privileged to work with them to try to overcome problems that they may experience in shelter and other services that are not meeting their needs. one of the things that we are very excited about is opening a navigation center and i was glad for a moment that carla johnson wasn't here because it's less automatic -- awkward to say how important it is to have brought her. this is

between 15-16th street in the mission neighborhood. it's a former school district property that the city took control of at the end of last year. eventually 125 units of affordable housing will be built on this site but ground breaking won't take place until 12-18 months an we are able to address problems that people are experienced living on the street and mostly we received a donations from the council and received an anonymous donation from those that wanted to support this. 2 million for the center of it's operations for the year and another year spending in hotels. and this is for people to come in and

basically exiting. we see permanent housing and shelter is also available and mental health and being housed on their own and third is homeward bound. for seven 7 years we have had a program connecting people with their family and friends. if they are not able to sustain themselves in san francisco, we call their family and provide them a bus ticket and we've had 9,000 people return and only had 29 of them return. we probably had more people come back but it's been an overwhelming

program. carla is one of the first that came onto the site. it's a preview school facility and it has ramps and things you would look at for access. we pretty much had to start over with some of the elements of the campus and make them more accessible and i'm really please withdraw -- with how things turned out and mod and dbi came out and it was seamless. it went really well and we now have a facility that can take 75 people at a time. i said that one of the purposes of navigation is to trying to address homelessness. if you live on the street, you are going to have a

sleeping bag and tents and if you go into a shelter, a police officer can only get you a navigation. the only stornl that you are going to have is a drawer under your bed. so you are going to give up all of these things that you have accumulated to keep yourself safe for one night. married couples cannot stay together in a shelter. the couple at the navigation center. the gentleman is on general assistance which means he has a dedicated shelter bed and his partner is on ssi and she's not guaranteed a shelter bed and they don't know if they will be at the same facility and it creates problems for people with ptsd to be afraid at night and afraid to leave your

possessions to go to an appointment even to sign up for a practitioner and we've seen a lot of people stuck on the streets and pets and other people with disabilities and others rely on companions service animals and if it does not have that designation, they are not able to stay with the owner. we have two great dog runs, but the best part is that they barely have been used because people can have their dogs with them at all times and they sleep with them. it's been a very very welcoming environment. we call ourselves low threshold so you don't go through a metal detecter. i am people are up at night for safety and sleep during the day. a shelter sister often lights out and i have had the people describe to me the people in the bed next to them is up and sleeps

during the day. things have gone really really well. but i do want to say that we would have certainly bumped into some walls had we not had a strong partnership with the mayor's office on disabilities. a couple other thing, well over a year now we've been able to have individuals access 90 daybeds which are the preferable reservation. used to have to go to a first come first serve system. people would lineup in the middle of the night to try and be sure because being first come first serve, being the fifth or fourth in line made the difference whether you got in the bed. so we've made it possible for individuals to call 311 to make a call for shelter. it's

been a ground breaking change. in the first year, we had 103,000 calls through 311. people with disabilities. women, others, not willing to be out in the street in the middle of the neat -- night to get a shelter bed reservation. however many people call that day, that is lottery and you indicate which one you want to stay on. we didn't know how many people wanted beds and didn't know how many people would stay and this is a problem for us that have problems. speaking rapidly we don't have bunks. there is never an issue with

someone getting assigned a top bunk k which they are not able to access. many of the clients have told me that they have been treated very well by the staff and very respectfully and it's been a big help. one of the things they did by identifying how many women wanted shelter not accessed through a live system and we opened for the first time an emergency winter shelter for women. for 25 years, the loma prieta the san francisco winter council has had a shelter that moved during the winter months. i was going to say the wet months but cold. what we are table do is the golden gate church in laguna has now been extended to year-round. it's been opened since july 1st,

golden gate laguna and women can come at 5:30 p.m. and we've never had anyone turned away. most of you know our office is in the forefront of making lifeline services available possible and identify taken people from the coals and -- coalition and that they had lifeline and they wouldn't access lifeline. i want to say that showsen defiance. to think that somehow, a system that existed. most people don't leave. i don't have a land line phonen my house. that's not the way i live. what's great about it is we just, our office along with supervisor breed and the mayor, we advocated very hard and the homeless coalition

was very involved. there were 179 vacant public housing units and yet we still had 200 families on a waiting list and some have been vacant for a couple years. the mayor put $2.2 million in the budget and over 100 former homeless families were able to move into those units and the public housing waiting list has been closed since 2008 and this is a community that realizes that these are fundamental barriers to people. can you manual -- imagine that you couldn't apply for a boat on the marina for 20 years. if you have to wait six months to get a library card. for those people, those are the standards that seem that are acceptable to folks. i'm very proud that the

public housing waiting list was open and we had about 8 thousand applications. the reason i brought that up is 40% of the applications for the public housing waitingist and that's what we prioritize. i have reporter's call me up and say do homeless people use cell phones and seems like an idiotic question to me. it's clear that people have migrated to technology to enable them to be connected in the world. so we are very grateful to have this cellphone service and the experience of the housing authority is emblem attic and you make it a forward application and people will do it. one of the other facilities we are excited to open is an lgbt focus shelter open june 16. the mayor's office on

disability was very involved and that was an example that i don't think mod was involved. i don't know all the details and history but a lot of the issues have been resolved though make sure this program is going to be fully acceptable and we are very excited about it. 29% of the homeless population in san francisco identifies as lgbt, it is a staggering number because in san francisco that 29, 16-24 for adults and seniors. most other cities you look at have a very high number for lgbt homelessness among young people but that number drops to 5%. in san francisco a city that is viewed to be the best city to be an lgbt individual, that you are an eviction away from being homeless. very vulnerable and fairly staggering number. if there are any questions that people have? >> at this time i would like to open up questions to the council.

cochair supanich? thank you, mr. dufty for that update. i have several questions or comments but they are all brief. the first is the esh around partners and spouses being able to stay together. is there something in the works that will where we have married homeless shelters or section or floor of a shelter that can accommodate people? >> i think in the big picture what we hope to have is a more neighborhood base response to homelessness. what we have now are large facilities that it's a challenge and it's also a challenge because the population and shelter is much older and sicker and individuals with disabilities. one of the major thing when we talk to shelters is that their staff are not trained and they don't have the staff coverage

to assist people to attend their activities for daily living wechl -- we see people discharged from hospitals going directly to a center. he's been an academy ad -- advocate for shelter and that's something you will see in the budget and there is a task force working at the department. it might be good to ask someone from dph to give you an update. it's vital that we have a facility like that. that's an example of a facility that is less than 50 individuals. i think the most popular shelter in terms of our reservation request is a hospitality house. i'm trying to suggest and one of the things that our office did is that i'm proud in this past year is that there was a state law passed in 2008 that

required cities and localities that identified areas and location. it's no secret that i have been battling for a shelter and there is only 110 bed shelter where people sleep on mats can't come into well after 9:00 and have to leave at 6 a.m. in the morning. it's a wonderful program but a lot of constraints. usually about 80-110 beds are there and they sit in chairs. some of the neighbors are so per nishs and mean and they have to keep the light on at night. it's so sad that we see people

on the street and they don't understand. why sit so difficult to get a facility that is so clearly needed. why is it people that are housed have such a priority that we can't open an facility. at the beginning of this year we adopted legislation and i'm happy to share with you maps that show every district identified where we can have these facilities. it doesn't mean we can open up tomorrow but people can't throw 20 road blocks for this structure. supervisors have told me they would leak to see a facility that doesn't occur in their district. i have gone about a way to say there is not currently planned. i think it will be a thing to address couples. 14 people came into the navigation center.

something that we take for granted and it's been a very big deal. although there is one couple that said we don't like having our cots together. i don't want to offer that everybody necessarily wants to be right next to each other. >> thank you. going to the cellphone issue and 311. i volunteer at glide and the program. people get there at 5:00 in the afternoon and wait until the following night and that line-up has gone way down. >> thank you. >> i can say that's been very successful. the last thing at work lgbt center, homeless shelter, how many beds will that have? >> 24. initially we haven't

fully landing, but of the shelters that we have, the larkin street shelter for young people does not use the overall shelter reservation system. they have a direct referral system and that makes sense because it's a different population. one of the things that i'm in discussion with the human services agency is we would like to have a joint referral system, which is the community referral services, cultural competency and works with other providers that helps individuals with lgbt access shelter. maybe they start with the beds with a direct referral and 8-3 with the normal referral process. these are not strictly reserved. they are folked on the lgbt community but we would like to at he's start at the beginning and get an identity for the shelters so people who are lgbt are comfortable. i talked about facilities being

preferable. i respect people have rights and i'm balancing these two things and we'll probably open within the 3-6 months with two-thirds of the bed and 1/3 of the bed go for a 3-1 and see how that works out. >> thank you. >> any other questions from the council at this time? >> okay. we'll move on. does the mod staff have any questions? >> through the chair, thank you. this actually isn't the question. it's more of a comment. i have known you through just about everyone of your city assignments been made to the supervisors and head of mons, i can't think of anybody better qualified to hold your position because of the incredible depth of knowledge and deposited of empathy and love that you bring to us and your competency

is phenomenal. thank you. >> thank you. it great work and i know all of you support us and it's fun. we are in insurgents and to say that the status quo isn't good enough. we are comrades here. thank you. we'll open up for public comment. >> jackie bryson. >> public speaker: good afternoon, council. i'm here because i'm very concerned about what the mayor's office of hope actually does. you got a very rosy picture of all these wonderful things that they have done. i'm here as a poster child for the deficits and the

biggest deficit has to do with not giving a formal access evaluation for people's needs particularly people who are disabled. how can you possibly meet people's need for access if you don't know what they are. that seems so obvious that staff will do that to you and working with carla and joanna and heather. the point being, here is a wonderful resource and how can you possibly put people in any kind of housing being at sheltering them and causing them to sleep on a matt on the floor which i physically would not be able to do. there are a lot of people. we

danced too much, we got up and back down. how can you do that if you don't know what the needs are. there isn't even a protocol to feind out what it is this person needs. it's been very frustrating for me and i find myself becoming more sick and sickened by the fact that i cannot get placed in appropriate housing. if i were in that appropriate housing that there would be a safety net for me that i would still be there. that's basically segues into the need for a department on disability because had there been a department back in december of 2004 when i testified before the board of supervisors during public comment about how each of these various departments were allowed to set up their own department before the don't in

2010, i wouldn't be here today. the name of the walker is gaven news om. there is a real need if that this department would have purview over all other departments which are servicing people with disabilities. thank you again. >> was there anymore public comment? is there anyone on the bridge line? or any other public comment? >> you are not required to respond. if you care to you may. >> yes, you are welcome to. >> i guess what i want to say

is that mr. -- ms. bryson is correct. that the hurdles to services often themselves are debilitating to people and requiring multiple appointments, multiple visits is very difficult for people who are not housed and they wind up. i helped a young woman get housed and it took 4 months because she had to have an income associated for her to move no housing and yet she was living in golden gate park. there is no question that she qualified and her health declined tremendously and she became very sick in the winter months and we had to get an alarm clock and cellphone to do that i do think there are system in place and ways in which housing is not always optimal for individuals because of the scarcity of

housing, we push. the system does. there is not a part for homelessness as described. there is a department for disabilities and new york has one. that might be better for people who are disabled or even become disabled for those that are delayed and kept on the street. i think that's important. >> thank you for your response and for being here today. we are going to move on to ceremonial item no. 6. in honor of former mayor's disability council cochair mdc derek zarda, we have kathy zarda, derek's mother will provide information on the memorial for saturday april 18,

2015 at the, at the independent living resource center. thank you ms. zarda for being here today in addressing the council and the public. thank you. first i would like to say good afternoon to members of the council. let's see if that works. i don't usually talk loud. so we'll see. anyway, good afternoon, and it feels that i know you all. i have heard so much about all of you. it's nice to see faces with the people that he's known and cared for for such a period of time. i know that when he made the decision to finally realize his goals of moving to taipei to marry

his sweetheart, sydney. it was with mixed emotions of leaving this council and leaving his work at independent living centers because he really cared deeply about what this was all about. as you know he was a young man with a big heart. and passionate for what he did, not just here suddenly when he was 27 years old, but throughout his life. when he came back to kansas to visit the family and from time to time in phone calls with him prior to his moving, i would say, well, derek have you told members of the council that you are actually moving? no,

mom, i haven't decided really when i'm going to go. okay, you need to let them know. i know, mom. and he was, he had various plans like he was going to move february of 2014. no, i'm going in may. may 2014. no, mom, i think i'm going to go in august. and then he says, you know, if i just don't decide to go, i will keep postponing it. that was his decision to move over there in november of 2014. and i did see online the acclimation and so on that you gave to him on his

last council visit. as you are aware, he actually took the plane to taipei later that evening. and because he wanted to do as much as he could with the time he had here. he truly was a man of action. he would say from time to time, momma, i just don't have time to play the drums, or, the disk jockey work because he loved to do that and he was also a barista and the campus. he would tell me i'm doing this and that for the council and then i'm doing this at independent living. in two weeks i'm going to a conference in i think it