S.F. to add hundreds of beds for homeless during winter storms

San Francisco will try to help those people stay dry by nearly doubling the number of shelter beds available this season, the city announced Wednesday.

In seeking to get people inside during the rains, the city decided against the approach it took during the El Niño storms in 1997-98, when it opened one big shelter that housed roughly 1,000 people, creating safety and public-health concerns.

Dante Calonsag, who lives in the area, said he thought housing homeless people at the YMCA was a “good idea,” so long as the city took precautions.

[...] the staff should make sure they’re not bringing any weapons or syringes.

Because at the end of the day, a lot of kids go there for after-school programs.

For now, the city has decided against constructing temporary tent cities, a controversial idea being considered in San Jose as officials there also plan for El Niño.

San Francisco wants to avoid doing that, but the idea could be revived if the number of homeless people seeking shelter exceeds the available beds.

“It’s the last resort,” Barbara Garcia, director of the Department of Public Health, said of setting up outdoor tent camps.

Yet with roughly 3,500 people sleeping on the street, according to the city’s most recent count, and nearly all the existing shelters full every night, even the additional accommodations planned for El Niño leave the city about 1,000 beds short of housing the homeless population.

The Human Services Agency has budgeted $1 million to pay for janitorial costs, staffing and bedding materials, Rhorer said.

Jennifer Friedenbach, director of the Coalition on Homelessness, said some homeless people are in denial about El Niño because there has been less rain this fall than predicted.