started as a volunteer with the coalition on homelessness. i also was an intern with the local homeless coordinating board when i was in graduate school and then have done everything from doing tenant organizing in sro hotels to direct services, and i am very interested in continuing to be involved in the policy aspect of things. i feel that my last three years have helped me understand the federal picture and how the local interact with it and how important it is for us to continue to advocate for services for the most needy folks in our city, so i appreciate your time and consideration. supervisor kim: could we next have kim armbruster? >> good afternoon. thank you for the opportunity to speak to you. i am very eager to fill vacant seat 3 on the homeless coordinating board. i have been a member of staff at the like and foundation for six years. my work is two fold. i am manager of the walk-in resource center, and that program encompasses shelter reservations and case management and reginald assistance. my program, the main scope is from hom

that have been homeless. please remember that the true cost of homelessness is not just found in the service issues, it is in the impact of the quality of life. helping to move people out and stay out involves a series steppingstone programs. the begin with shelters, case management, they include advocacy programs coupled with a function of behavioral health systems will help get the -- that will help get the seniors into the community where they can help themselves and help the community. thank you for your time. [applause] >> think you so much. -- thank you so much. we want to bring up erica to share with us about homelessness. >> district 6 has the largest population of homeless people in the city. it resides in the south of market area. it is the largest proportion of other social conditions often linked to poverty, overcrowding, disability, mental illness, addictive disorders, and more. 9000 different people, into small shelters. three of the shelters were located in district 6. after the recession hit,

i am very eager to fill vacant seat 3 on the homeless coordinating board. i have been a member of staff at the like and foundation for six years. my work is two fold. i am manager of the walk-in resource center, and that program encompasses shelter reservations and case management and reginald assistance. my program, the main scope is from homelessness on the streets into permanent housing. and like what-in center does the most shelter reservations and we are the only access point for shelter reservations in the tenderloin. we also do the most rental assistance for both avoid eviction and for getting people rehoused and then also the full span of case management. my second scope is in service systems integration. i think that both of these areas, i would like to bring that background service on the board. one thing i noticed as in a large agency, individual programs tend to slip into sort of a silo mentality, and i noticed that that tends to happen from agency to agency, and they're at least needs to be better coordination in communication. i would hope tha

as you know, the local homeless coordinating board every year get $20 million. the problem with the local homeless coordinating board is that it consists of hiring all stakeholders, all people who run cbo's. executive directors of catholic charities. the local homeless coordinating board composition should reflect the community and not just the viewpoint of the cbo's. therefore, i am opposing all three applicants today. thank you. supervisor kim: thank you. is there any other public comment on this item? >> good afternoon. oscar grande. i m here to applaud and support the 3 up with its. i think the level of perseverance, of stamina and determination to be able to do the work that they do, not anyone could do it. certainly not i. and especially i want to speak to wendy phillips, who i have worked with for over a decade now. i just see her commitment. i have experienced firsthand really shedding light to homeless issues, the issues that i am not familiar with. i know her as a constant alliance-builder, connecting the different stakeholders and community members, t

she escaped homelessness.n london helped convert this hotel into the sin ca housing program for the homeless. >> by the grace of god i help these folks who had life circumstances that may have ended up homeless. >> london was the first director for the coalition for the homeless. under her leadership it grew from a $1 million to $9 million helping 1600 homeless people every year. with her work came recognition. she was named citizen of the year, one of maryland's top 100 women and an abc 7 toyota tribute to working women awardee. her biggest challenge is convincing lawmakers homelessness is a problem in such an affluent county. >> it's so different than in d.c. we have folks living out in the woods. >> london is a mother of two and grandmother of one. in fact, she would bring her children to the homeless shelter to pass on her mantra. everyone deserves the dignity of a home. >> just the people that they met and those stories, what we could do for people and what i think is our obligation as a society. >> back

so this is just a tremendous opportunity for homeless women and children and for all of the homeless population that tie-dye serves, and i encourage you, this is the time. thank you. >> good evening. my name is jeff, the executive director of catholic charities, c.y.o., a member of tie-dye. and since about 20 pioneer families moved out of homelessness and into permanent support of housing in 1989, we have been there with them, supporting them. today we are supporting almost 200 formerly homeless families on the island. in addition, we run the child development center, where we have about 60 children of those families. i would encourage you this evening to certify the e.i.r., as well as approve all the other items that come to you this evening. i would ask you to consider the incredibly positive environmental impact of housing of formerly homeless families and the fact that hundreds of children now are graduating high school. the families are stabley housed. and this incredible community at treasure island has been living there for up to 10 years without basic infrastructure, without

it is never just homelessness. folks that we serve, it is homeless and mental illness, homelessness and being seen and not having family. homelessness and unemployment in an economy that is really difficult for the best of us to compete in. homelessness in so many other issues, and what we are asking with these budget cuts is 334 people to now -- do not now have a resource center to go to, to not be able to use restrooms at the shelter to be able to rest. if you are in a wheelchair. this is what the budget cut will do. again, it is resident impact. also, staffing impact. you see us at the shelters. we employ 25% of our staff are formerly homeless. we are employing formerly homeless at $12.13 an hour. we will lay off -- we will have to lay off some of our staff. again, these are the working poor, and we ask that they not be penalized by these cuts. finally, the neighborhood impact. again, i say that having the shelter opened, having a place for them to watch tv, to rest, to be with each other instead of being on the

but i hope that as we look at homeless policy, we take a man approached that does not blame homeless people for their own predicament but looks at how we can improve the economy, jobs, and educational opportunities for many people who are currently homeless. >> you started to touch on this a little bit as the city's housing needs. what do you think the board of supervisors should be doing to address some of those needs? supervisor mar: even as we will be holding a hearing on senior housing needs in a few weeks, we did a study with the budget analyst office that shows that there is a huge need for housing, especially for affordable housing for the lowest income population, but even for our middle-income, aging population, there is nowhere near enough housing that is affordable for people, so it may mean an exodus of more working families, or seniors that are middle or lower income from the city, we must build more housing that is affordable. there is also the danger that san francisco becomes a city that loses families because it may be cheaper or more affordable to live in daly city

then you have another category of homelessness, which is chronic homelessness. it is not just living paycheck to paycheck, but other issues like mental health or drug addiction. that is a much harder population to address. i think -- the district that i represent as many of the community organizations. it continues to be a pressing problem. >> where do you think the attics and mentally ill will go? supervisor kim: first of all, a ton of families live in the tenderloin. people do not realize this, but the tenderloin is a family neighborhood. it in not a proponent for cleaning up the tenderloin. i love the tenderloin. i love what it is right now. you know, i recognize that we have a diversity of folks who want to live there. i do not have a problem with people being out on the streets and socializing. it is part of the character of the neighborhood. i do not think the party is something we should criminalize. that being said, we cannot have open drug dealing. i do support a foot patrol. we are currently working with several organizations or have safe passages wher

for homeless sentences in. tie dyeing is in full support of the project as it is providing real opportunity from the ground up for a new life for current and future residents. we urge your support. thank you for this opportunity. >> [unintelligible] serving low-income people throughout the city. while disappointed, we do support the project and the proposal to pursue inflation. having been on the island since 1997, we have faced multiple barriers to employment. individuals in this program typically include the training and placing with permanent jobs resulting in job brokerage programs and contracting opportunities. community-based organizations and the u.s. coast guard, making sure that future opportunities will be there on the island preventing local barriers to employment. thank you. >> i just want to reiterate what was just said. we are in strong support of the treasure island project because of a comprehensive housing job opportunities san franciscans. as well as contract and opportunities that steve just

i would like to get your thoughts on homelessness and what the city is doing about homelessness, what direction you think we should be headed in, a big issue in san francisco. >> homelessness is interesting. when you look at it as a sociological perspective, we have some of the people in the homeless community enjoying being on the street. others want help. i think when we also -- we need to do a better job of taking care of those mentally ill. when you are on the street and you listen to the homeless folks or you watch them interacting, you see they are a little disturbed. i think the city overall has done a good job in terms of housing and taking them off the street, providing services. mayor newsom started a private -- program connecting members of the homeless community to services, dental, vision, therapy, housing, mental health. these are things that you and i probably take for granted. we have access and resources we can leverage. this community doesn't. in the southeast part of the city, we don't have many homeless facilities. there is one that i know of, providence baptist ch