“Homelessness is the biggest moral failing of our time.” ~Jennifer Friedenback
Jennifer is busy – and for good reason. The San Francisco Bay Area has one of the highest concentrations of homeless people. Why? Housing prices are skyrocketing while wages remain stagnant. This has left thousands homeless in San Francisco alone.
As Executive Director of the Coalition on Homelessness, Jennifer aims to organize homeless people to find permanent solutions, and fights to protect the rights of those on the streets. One of her team’s accomplishments: rallying for a call-in system for those seeking shelter beds. Prior to the call-in system, people would wait up to 18 hours PER DAY to simply reserve a bed for the night. While this reservation system now allows more time for people to work at getting off the streets, there is still a significant bottleneck simply because there aren’t enough beds. “It’s a very brutal system.”
Jennifer is passionate and knowledgeable about homelessness. More importantly, she has her finger on the pulse of today’s San Francisco homeless people and their needs.
In this interview, Jennifer shares how her team organizes homeless people, individuals who are in survival mode. She helps find their voice by conducting outreach. This isn’t your typical outreach, though – as in handing out granola bars to homeless people.
Her team conducts outreach to listen. She says it is important to recognize you aren’t recruiting people to support an idea or protest you are selling. That’s mobilizing people. Organizing is asking what the demands are of those protesting. And the demands come from the people who are personally impacted – homeless people. That’s outreach.
“There is a massive payoff in getting involved,” Jennifer adds, noting it gives homeless people a voice and helps with the “healing process.”
Addressing Gentrification and Criminalization
Jennifer says landlords have become ruthless, hitting up poor communities and outpricing the residents so they can lease to wealthier people. When the wealthy arrive, the presence of poor people alarms them (without warrant), so they call and complain … which segues into Jennifer’s next topic: criminalization.
Get this: In San Francisco, a homeless person can get 6 months in prison for aggressive panhandling – that’s asking for money twice in a day. They can get 6 months for sitting on the sidewalk after their second offense.
The Coalition on Homelessness was able to stop some of the insanity through legal proceedings. But police have become more creative in their criminalization of homeless people, confiscating tents under the guise of using it as evidence for misdemeanors when really, it’s just to get people off their street.
But calling the cops is a “complete waste of money.” Not only does it not work, Jennifer says it exacerbates homelessness. How you ask?
- Being arrested traumatizes people hindering their escape from the streets.
- When a homeless person has a trivial charge against them resulting in a warrant, they are kicked off the housing list, which means they will spend more time on the street.
- People often lose their IDs in sweeps, which means they lose what they need to get off the streets.
“Criminalization does nothing to decrease the presence of homeless people,” Jennifer said, adding it is a cruel kick to someone when they are down. Check out the Coalition’s “Punishing the Poorest” study.
Jennifer’s advice: When you see a homeless person, don’t call the cops – call the elected! Keep the pressure on local officials to change policies.
Like we’ve said before in our Ultimate Guide to Calling the Police on Homeless People – DON’T.
What Can People Do?
- Listen to homeless people, what are their issues
- Educate yourself, then educate others – during family gatherings, neighborhood barbecues, etc.
- Make homelessness front and center on the ballot.
- Support the Coalition on Homelessness
