We are petitioning the SF Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, the Department of Public Works, SFPD's Southern Station Captain, Mayor Lee, and District 10 Supervisor Malia Cohen to participate in a pilot project at Box City (7th Street, between Hubbell & Irwin) to address the needs of Box City residents, the surrounding community, and City workers by providing: (1) Coordinated trash disposal and pick-up services with DPW; and (2) Clear community agreements about cleaning schedules and storage guidelines.

Box City residents and their Community Liaison (Amy Farah Weiss of the Saint Francis Homelessness Challenge) want to help the City save our limited resources of indoor shelter and housing for the unhoused residents who currently need them the most, and work together at Box City to pilot a collaborative, outcomes-driven, and cost-effective strategy that will both reduce the number of neighbor complaints and support transition and humane treatment for residents currently living in the unsanctioned interim village.

More info: A Declaration of a Shelter Crisis was passed in by the SF Board of Supervisors in April 2016 due to limited resources of indoor shelter. The shelter crisis has worsened since then, with over 1,000 people currently on the 90-day shelter waitlist) and permanent housing. 

Box City is a transitional encampment in Mission Bay at 7th Street between Hubbell and Irwin of 20-25 residents, the majority of whom sleep in self-made "box structures" to provide secure sleep and storage. The Saint Francis Homelessness Challenge has been organizing with Box City residents for the past three months to (1) Provide necessary sanitation and hygiene support (e.g. Port-a-potty was delivered on 9/23/2016 and receives twice-a-week servicing, we provided 10 garbage cans, regularly bring trash bags, and coordinate volunteer clean-up and beautification events), (2) Identify the transition goals and job skills of residents, (3) Address complaints from the surrounding community of apartment residents and local businesses (e.g. Trash and belongings that block parking spaces or the bike lane, unsightliness, noise at night), and (4) Support coordination between Box City residents and City Departments and Services to create efficiencies and reduce complaints.

SFHC has been working with Box City residents to develop and implement a Good Neighbor agreement to keep the gutter to the bike lane remain clear from 5:30AM-5:30PM Monday through Friday to support daytime parking in those spots. However, Box City residents were told by a DPW worker last week (either Sunday/Monday December 11/12, 2016) that DPW would consistently be coming for big item pick-ups every Friday and that they should leave big items out for pick-up. Unfortunately, Box City residents followed this advice and DPW never came on Friday December 16th, which made it seem that residents were making the problem worse.

Here are a few additional ways that we can better coordinate with DPW for good outcomes and efficiency:

1. In the past, the DPW team has come to Box City on consecutive days (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday mornings) rather than alternate days which means that garbage piles up in an unnecessary way. But lately there have been weeks when there has been one or less on-site visit from DPW, which means that trash bags remain in the street waiting for pick-up.
2. There has not been a designated area/s or receptacles for DPW pick-up, which can be improved upon with proper planning and resources.
3. There hasn't been a coordinated complete clear-out of Box City structures and belongings in three months, and SFHC and Box City resident leaders think that a clear-out would be useful to have a fresh start and ensure that residents have more equitable distribution of space and requirements for storage limits and rules.
4. If another sanctioned location isn't offered for Box City residents to move to, another possible solution to reduce issues and increase livability is to take 30 feet of unmetered parking space and create daytime community-beneficial work/gathering/healing space for Box City residents in support of their transition. There are generally 10-15 available metered spaces across the street at any given time, indicating that parking availability will not be hindered by the removal of 2-3 parking spaces.