i have worked extensively with the homeless. i was the director of mental health for a large county, 800,000 people. in the area of housing, for homeless housing programs, i have been very successful in grant writing. one of the skills that i bring to you and that i offered is my experience in bringing in money from the federal government and through many other different, pd public organizations. i volunteer with the red cross and have been very active in the last, i would say, 20 years. i have worked at the pentagon on 9/11. i also have volunteered with the san francisco suicide prevention, and through that, we to also get calls from people who are homeless and in need of housing. i have a lot of experience in working with coalitions and with diverse people. in answer to what i think i can bring, homelessness is a very complex issue. i see where it affects people from all walks of life. the newest population that is being affected now our veterans. who are returning with ptsd and other disabilities, who call themselves homeless

family homelessness, veterans who are homeless, individuals with hiv-aides who are homeless and our general population. our office has been on the forefront with taking new approaches. last week, mayor lee, we traveled together to seattle and we got to visit the housing they have here that works with chronic public inebriates. they have 75 individuals who live there with dignity and support. it has had -- not had barriers. i was with barbara garcia camauro amazing public health director with social security. it was such a transformative day to recognize we will qualify 200 homeless schizophrenic who are those people you see not been able to garner services. we're looking at doing some exciting things. our jails for 10 years have had a charter adult school. they have done amazing work. we are looking at bringing five keys to six straight and sunni deal. we need to have access to education. we have 18% high-school graduation rats ies in sunnydal. it want to have the housing authority be one of the best in the nation. we want to get vacant units rehabilitated. the mayor has been helping us. ho

i work in a program that runs a homeless clinic. all my patients to that clinic are homeless families. there in a transitional housing, things like that. i also provide a nonprofit homeless health clinic. i provide health care for underserved, on insured, homeless. supervisor kim: i was hoping you could actually talk about what you see as priorities for the city to address are around children who are homeless? >> sure. one of the things i have been very excited to see in the last two years is the issues are around homeless children really taking more and more up front seat, not only locally, but also nationally. we need to start to understand children are homeless and there will be held issues, mental health issues -- health issues, mental health issues associated with becoming homeless. we have always been at the forefront of the country for recognizing a lot of these issues and i 81 to work towards improving these. supervisor kim: could you be specific? >> one of the biggest challenges children face our mental health issues. it is

san franciscans understand a lot about homelessness. my child talks to me a lot about homelessness. i see the art project. they talk about why people cannot have homes and jobs. they talk about the sorts of large you want people to live. the mayor started his administration with the expectation that we can. i have hope in this job. i did not want to come to a job that i saw as maintaining the status quo. incredible things are going on. we have the ability in the 21st century to look at the outcomes for people, not just within homeless services, but for individuals in public housing, families at risk for homelessness, and special populations. transgendered individuals, veterans, and families. we have the ability to look at outcomes and make a difference, to engage our stakeholders such as foundations and other partners such as the san francisco foundation. i was so grateful that dr. hernandez called to welcome into the job and the important work that the san francisco foundation is doing. our city has the value to continue to replace and rebuild public housing and make them communiti

it is dedicated to homelessness prevention. our mission is to end homelessness for families and individuals in the san francisco bay area and that is where we're present at every phc event. let's talk about homelessness in san francisco. we have been hearing a lot about a homeless families for the past five or six months in the media. usually harmless singles have been the face of homelessness in san francisco. there is no -- homeless families are one of the most believable groups. the first half of last year when the city conducted its annual survey, out of 6466 homeless persons, 635 of them were families. by november of last year, there were 267 families wishing to access shelter in one of the city-funded family shelters. that is to under 67 families that did not have a regular place to sleep. -- 2647 famil7 families. the wait list was at 214. now that number on -- in november exceeded 25% more than the number of families seeking shelter at the height of the recession. we have over 190 families seeking shelter. these are fami

many of them are homeless or people living on the edge of being homeless. we are worried about that. it is is also important to point out that we are also looking at cutting, dropping services for homeless folks. this is happening at two different organizations for the proposal. one is a drop-in center that is specific to women. it stays open 24 hours and is a low threshold location to give women a safe place to stay at night, if they were not able to access our shelter system or find any other place to sleep at night. the other is central city hospitality houses drop-in center program. between the cuts proposed to those programs, we are looking at 571 people losing access to bathrooms, losing access to very basic services, like simple meals and snacks, and a safe place to rest. when homeless folks that are disconnected from other services lose this one very basic service at a drop-in center, this is something that we are all going to see an impact of. whether people living or working in the neighborhoods where they are, or whether they are people trying to

i have worked extensively with the homeless. i was the director of mental health for a large county, 800,000 people. in the area of housing,

my concerns are with the proposed dph cuts to a number of services but to be homeless and formerly homeless, including 109 units of supportive housing. there is a proposal to relocate tenants to new housing coming on line, so it would be a net loss of 109 units. i am also concerned about the proposed cuts to drop-in centers, cuts to youth programs, and others. if there is a way to make sure there is enough financing to restore some of the proposed cuts in the health department's budget, that would be great. ultimately, it would save money in terms of -- dph is facing serious issues, but the cost of the system elsewhere -- it would be much greater his people can access the vital services that people need. thank you. [applause] >> good evening, everyone. i am, -- for the elderly. thank you, mr. mayor for your local hiring policy so as to provide more opportunities for san francisco job seekers. thank you to be office of economic and workforce development for funding in the house in the academy. there is still something missing, however. we know the government-funded work force development for

i am confused as to who is on the local homeless coordinating board. i just feel like the definite shelter -- they addressed it only in a token fashion. they talked about it and they swept it under the rug. the other thing, too, i have been on this subcommittee and that subcommittee. there is one subcommittee when i go there, none of the members of the local homeless coordinating board -- they are not there. so, they are not there. the other problem i am having is everybody is meeting and out of town waiver. like these people want to come to san francisco, but they do not want to live in san francisco. something is really, really wrong. [bell rings] i just -- i just get frustrated. you need to do better. you need to do better. this is not good. supervisor kim: thank you. >> hello, supervisors. my name is meghan alliance. i am the policy analyst for the homeless coordinating board. i want to apologize. this is a bit confusing. it may appear to the public that there are four positions available. there are not four open positions. there are only two posit

we have the homelessness going on in the daytime. we hoped that our very active neighborhood court would be able to do some been to address these issues. especially when neighborhood court, the polk street neighborhood court was charged with handling of that -- all the prostitution cases within san francisco, in addition to our regular cases. unfortunately, as an example, last tuesday in our regular monthly neighborhood court session, we had a full slate of panelists, a full slate of observers. we had two cases scheduled for all of the prostitution in san francisco and our homelessness and other issues on polk street. two cases scheduled and nobody showed up. this is a court that was a very, very active for a very long time. so it seems to be a very promising solution is turning out to be nothing. the neighborhoods are wanting to be involved. we're wanting to be out there and working with the police, with the district attorney's office, with dpw. wanting to be there. but we're not getting what we need to make these solutions a realit

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

that is one cause -- one part of the homeless population, but also, being homeless makes you more susceptible to contract in hiv. so we need to look at the public health system to make sure we can do our work around finding resources to get people to understand how they need to live more healthy. housing is an issue. i like the idea of building more supportive housing that can help people have a room but also these other services i have mentioned, so that they can be stable in their housing. it is probably -- i would like to think that we can get over it, but building the housing stock, having an economy with enough jobs for people where it can be stable, services on the health side is what it will take. homelessness has been an issue that is always a perennial issue that people are using in campaigns, what they are going to do to resolve the homeless issue. sometimes, i see them being scapegoat as the cause of a problem, but we need to think of it in a compassionate way, how we can provide real care that will help people turn their lives around. the success is how we are able to help people

and you end up homeless. >> 1993. >> the first time that you began to walk the streets as a homeless man -- >> in 1993. >> right. for somebody that had been to such hieleights, how did that f? >> it was terrible. i would go into soup kitchens, so to speak, and people would remember me from those great days in radio. and it would be like what happened, man? and i would always say smoke damage. >> broke your mother's heart. you tell the story in the book. she sends you money to go to your father's funeral and you spend it on drugs and don't go. >> yeah. >> when you look back on that, was that the lowest points? >> it's one of them. the one that sticks out the most was when i was getting ready to feed my kids. after three weeks of not having a balanced home cooked meal, we had just gotten food stamps and we went to the grocery stores and the kids sat in the cart and they were so happy to get this food. and they're watching all of the various items we were putting in. they were even picking items. my son grabbed some grapes. back to the house to unpack the grapes and everything, my son w

a man was having a conversation when two homeless man approached the car looking for money. the man said no and told the man to move on. one walk behind the homeless center and got a knife. he went to back and tried to stab the man. he did not know the man had a permit to carry a concealed weapon. he was shot twice in the chest. >> if he was doing something wrong, you know. >> nearby workers were surprised by the shooting but said it was self-defense. >> being homeless is one thing but threatening somebody else's another. >> police agree at this point because there are no charges filed. >> thank you. let's take a look at the top stories. a fairfax type one though instructor was charged with having an appropriate contact with minors. he molested two students. they also found a child pornography at his home. police say they are not aware of other victims. >> 5 a jockeys' hurt in a collision at the raceway at oxon hill last night are expected to be ok. none of the courses appeared to be heard. >> d.c. fire department officials burned to personnel records of firefighters and pol

his dark days as a homeless his dark days as a homeless crack addict. america's favorite potatoes.s idaho potatoes taste great. but did you know they're good for you too? they're high in vitamins and potassium. and idaho potatoes are now certified to carry the heart checkmark from the american heart association for foods low in saturated fat and cholesterol. so they're good for my family, and for yours. heart smart idaho potatoes. always look for the grown in idaho seal. ♪... ♪... ♪... choose the perfect hotel without bidding. [siri] cit's off your calendar. good, 'cause it's date night. find me a store that sells organic mushrooms for my risotto. [siri] this organic market looks pretty close to you. how many ounces in a cup? [siri] this might answer your question. oh, i knew that. and remind me in an hour to put the gazpacho on ice. [siri] here's your reminder. shall i create it? yeah...unless you like hotspacho. siri? [siri] sam. you can take the night off. [siri] if you say so. >>> from the street corner to a youtube superstar. ted williams went from homeless to a household name

they wanted to help the homeless. not every student thought that the homeless deserve their help. they made a bold decision which was, instead of judging for themselves, they invited a homeless soccer team to play with them. they found out that they have more in common than they might have thought and that they really did want to do something to support them. if we could ask the gentleman from the street soccer usa team of san francisco, if you could send two ro three representatives up, the boys made them a flag that they will take to their tournament in new york city when they compete to qualify for the world cup. they also have a bag full of soccer gear that they're going to donate to give to the first- ever women's homeless street soccer team. we want to wish them good luck in their tournament. they did a lot to inspire our service project. that is it. thank you so much. now we have seen the projects, let's give a hand for all the projects. thank you. >> i run the recreation and parks department. i want to say to all of you how proud we are for your project and taking risks on

thousands are homeless. many fear without support those numbers could skyrocket over the next few years. on a day when americans take a time who remember those who died in service of their country, it's time to think of those who died. >> it's called ptsd, that's post trough mat test stress. >> reporter: he did three tours in vet na. he got out of the service in 1972. he spent the next 32 years lost in addiction. the program is a full recovery program for homeless veterans. it provide as place to stay. clifford said the pas -- past two years have helped. >> a lot of things i couldn't lay just to i wouldn't listen. i was selfish and i dealt with them problems on my own. you know what i mean? got very good counselors in here, case workers, and they work with you each day. >> reporter: on any given night there are veterans sleeping on the streets. studies show that veterans who got counseling do better at adjusting to civilian life but it has to come within the first three to five years. with thousands of iraq

how some are hoping the noise makes the homeless take a hike. >>> a teenager missing from va va >> i need your help to find our little girl. >>> and how the new eastern span of the bay bridge will reach a milestone this week. >>> the search is on tonight to find a missing 16 year-old vallejo girl. she may have run away from home. her mother held a candlelight vigil tonight to spray for the safe return of her daughter. >> reporter: the mother of olivia moderro made a plea to bring her daughter home to a higher power. she says her daughter has run away from her father's fairfield home in the past, but she says olivia usually calls her and checks in after one day. but not this time. she says the teen had a disagreement with her father before leaving on saturday. >> an argument about her grades, and letter writing to her high school friends who are in juvy. and i said, well, what prompted her to leave? what happened? and he just said i don't think anything happened that was bad enough for her to leave the house. i heard through tips from the investigator that she may be in sacramento or

one of the biggest issues is what to do with all the things the homeless do. they cannot just throw them away, they have to go into the stores said that creates a different kind of complications. >> at a time when many cities are deeply in debt, san francisco is on a spending spree. the mayor announced the long- term public safety hiring plan that includes six police academies. that means 300 new officers, more than enough to cover upcoming retirement. there will also be six fire academy class is over the next six years which could cut back on the overtime for the city is paying to keep fire stations covered. >> if you don't go to work on saturday he will be told sunday you can't go home because you need to work another 24 hours >> the city is banking on a boost in revenue to cover the costs. we expect more deals when the mayor unveils his plan tomorrow. >> he just picked up the republican presidential nomination and tonight mitt romney is in the bay area to pick up some campaign cash. the stage is set for what surely will be a huge hall. it is about the grand

here says san francisco has homeless problem. everybody that lives here becomes an expert on homelessness, you see what is not working. >> they are calling for a few hundred of chronic public drunks. >> we have to look at repeat offenders and we're spending money fighting people and releasing them. if there is a way to wrap services around the front end of the justice system i think we can help people in a more meaning fashion. >> the seattle program launched in 2006 and is considered a success by most because almost all residents cut their drinking significantly. bennett says he is drinks about 12 ceers a day compared to two or three times that amount living on the streets. >> in a way i look like this. you take the bums off the street and kind of clean it up. >> still, he says this will likely be his last home. >> believe it or not i probably will end passing away like a lot of my friends have. i seen about 21 guys die over here. better than dying here than dying there out on the street. >> terry: coming up, a future of air tra