How are you celebrating Mother's Day?

If you are doing something for Mother's Day, I bet it involves celebrating with a roof over your head...

Will I be at City Hall on Friday with my camera taking a sh*tload of photos and finding more families to talk to? Hell YES.

Coincidence? Perfect timing... whatever it is, it's also pathetic. Will I see you there, too? City Hall on Friday.

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For Immediate Release Press Contact:

May 5, 2009 Miguel Carrera, 415-346-3740 x 319

Jennifer Friedenbach, 415-346-3740 x306

MEDIA ADVISORY

MOTHERS HOLD MOTHER’S DAY PRESS CONFERENCE ON THE ECONOMICAL DOWN TURN

When: Friday, May 8, 2009, 11:00

Where: Steps of City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton Goodlett Place, San Francisco

What: Homeless mothers are holding a press conference to decry the lack of response from the Mayor’s office on the doubling of homeless families in San Francisco since the recession.

San Francisco—San Francisco, like cities across the nation, is seeing a dramatic spike in the number of families requesting emergency shelter. The city of San Francisco has enough homeless families to fill a small, rapidly growing town. Yet, this issue has received very loud silence coming out of the Mayor’s office.

According to Connecting Point, in the summer of 2007, the average number of homeless families waiting to be placed into shelters was 75. In the summer of 2008, that average doubled to 150 families. Since then, there have been anywhere from 150 to 190 families waiting to be placed into shelters. The recession has taken a tremendous toll on our low-income families, and homeless families are calling on the Mayor’s office to respond.

Studies have show that homelessness has negative impacts on our youth’s health, development and education. Mothers are becoming more and more concerned for their children’s well being.. They are in awe at the fact that the city has not responded to the tragic outcome of our recession. Homeless parents will be presenting their solutions and will be asking for a meeting with the Mayor. Homeless parents active with the Coalition on Homelessness have been calling for a meeting with the Mayor for the past two years, and have not been granted one.

For Mother’s Day, the mothers of the homeless community would like to spend their day securing their children’s future. Homeless parents will be calling for additional affordable housing units, a lifting of the time limit on a locally funded housing subsidy, and increased homeless prevention funding. San Francisco has adopted the “Housing First” policy which was created to swiftly house homeless single adults. The mothers are fed up with the lack of action from City Hall, and are demanding that the “Housing First” policy that was adopted by San Francisco be implemented for families in their time of need.

According to Jenise Standfield of SRO Families United, “Our families need real “rapid housing” not “rapid homelessness"!