[HPN] question

[Coalition on Homelessness, SF]

Hey Doug-

I don't know of any coalitions that are entirely comprised of 
homeless and formerly homeless people. The breakdown on ours is about 
2/3 homeless-formerly homeless people in paid positions (including 
our director, our accountant, development staff and me), and they 
make up the overwhelming majority of our volunteer staff. We 
currently have a regular staff of about 50 members.

All paid staff make the same salary: $19,500/year, which in SF means 
that we make below poverty-level wages. Our intent isn't to buy 
ourselves houses in the suburbs off the backs of homeless people. 
Since we can't pay everyone who works here, we offer lots of training 
opportunities for our volunteer staff on everything from media 
advocacy to administration of non-profit agencies.

We don't accept government funding (or United Way, for that matter). 
We don't provide services, other than legal representation for 
"quality of life" infractions (sleeping in the park, open containers, 
peeing in public, etc.). And we provide our street paper, the STREET 
SHEET, free of charge to anyone who wants to sell it.

We provide an effective conduit for homeless and formerly homeless 
people to design the policies and programs that directly impact them. 
We figure if the services that are provided are structured in a way 
to ensure a high level of client satisfaction, participation, and 
employment, and if we can effectively hold the agencies providing 
those services accountable to those they serve, then we don't really 
care who runs 'em.

Because we don't provide homeless services, we have no conflicts of 
interest, so we sit on many of the local bodies which award city, 
state, and federal funding for programs and services. We regularly 
bash on some of our local shelter directors and managers who make in 
the neighborhood of $90-100K per year - and we have helped a few to 
lose their jobs.

The people who work here who haven't been homeless are some of the 
most committed activists for social justice I've ever met. They 
inspire me. And as will often happen, one day they move on to higher 
paying jobs - but they still remain volunteers with us. It always 
amazes me.

We don't base our advocacy agenda on what our homeless and formerly 
homeless staff think about those issues - we base our agenda on what 
homeless people tell us on our 22+ monthly outreaches to shelters, 
drop-in centers, food programs, the parks and the streets. They're 
our real bosses, and they respect the work we do. As long as we have 
the respect of homeless people in SF, as we have had for the last 13 
years, we figure we haven't sold out yet.

You can read more about the Coalition at:

http://www.sfo.com/~coh/aboutcoh.html

Email me if you have any specifics you want to learn more about.

Peace,
chance martin
Coalition on Homelessness, San Francisco
==================================================
>does anyone know of any groups that there members are all formerly homeless
>that are fighting to end homelessness? i am so tired of coalitions that
>consist of service providers that are looking for more funding instead of
>concentrating on empowering homeless people and trying to end it. i often
>wonder what some service providers would do if homelessness was to end today.
>think about it we have people who are running shelters and making $70000 per
>year. Anyway if anyone knows of such organization or maybe is intrested in
>starting one let me know!
>
>thanks
>doug orange
>
>Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change
>the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
>Author: Margaret Mead
>
>_______________________________________________

Coalition on Homelessness, San Francisco
468 Turk St.
San Francisco, CA 94102
vox: (415) 346.3740
Fax: (415) 775.5639
coh@sfo.com
http://www.sfo.com/~coh