City-Funded Program Moves Families From SRO’s to AptsPaul Hogarthbyline‚ Dec. 03‚ 2007Mei-Qing Liu, who moved here from China three years ago, lived in an 8x10 Chinatown hotel room with her 12-year-old son; they shared a bathroom and common kitchen with 18 other families. Anthony Washington, a native San Franciscan, couldn’t have his nine-year-old son live with him – since the only place he had was a tiny SRO on Sixth Street. Today, both families each have their own one-bedroom place – thanks to a program by the Tenderloin Housing Clinic that places SRO families into apartments. It’s not a small task with the City’s insane rental market, but in the past five months 29 families have been taken out of overcrowded conditions – and gotten a new lease on life. Funded by the Human Services Agency, the program subsidizes up to $500 of their monthly rent – with the goal of becoming self-sufficient after two years. |