Sunday, February 14, 2016

Rainbow Grocery's Homeless Tent City Action Alert Issued

They're not going away and more of them are expected in coming weeks. Homeless folks living in Tent City along Division Street in SoMa have pressing public health concerns impacting them and the wellness of the areas in which they find themselves on the street.

After months of being a central bathroom and hangout location in the heart of Tent City, the Rainbow Grocery worker's cooperative has in recent days issued a call to action with a paper flyer.


Available at all checkout lanes and the customer service desk, the flyer's front answers the question of what's going on with the homeless encampments around Rainbow. 

While recognizing the need for affordable, low-income housing for homeless people and engage them to contribute to our society, Rainbow workers ask City Hall to address these matters immediately:

Install public toilets, garbage receptacles that are emptied on a daily basis, syrine needle clean ups, sidewalks and streets cleaned every day, water and sanitation facilities, and mental health professionals.

Sounds reasonable to me.


Will City Hall leaders heed the requests of Rainbow workers? To encourage action from elected officials and law enforcement agencies, the flyer's back provides contact info for Mayor Lee, the Board of Supervisors, the DA and SFPD, the mayor's homeless coordinator Sam Dodge and DPW.

Somethings's gotta be done because the status quo is intolerable. The Super Bowl's over. Where's Mayor Lee's homeless solutions plan?

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