At the height of the Delta variant spike, the City of San Francisco announced plans to close down the Shelter in Place Hotels that had kept about 2,000 people safe and off the streets over the course of the past year. We spoke with Lina Khoeur, a fourth year medical student at UCSF, and with Naomi Shoenfeld, a medical anthropologist and nurse practitioner who has been working and researching in the SIP hotels. Both of them shared what they have seen of the benefits the SIP hotel program  has offered to tenants, and why they are asking the City to #KeepHotelsOpen.

UPDATE: Since the interviews were conducted the City announced a short three month extension of the program thanks to community pressure. But the extension mat not be enough—hotels should stay open until all tenants are placed in safe and permanent housing.

Learn more!
Presentation on the study of SIP Hotels conducted by Naomi Shoenfeld and Dr Elizabeth Abbs - https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1EV0V765rC9Yk46ZMfpye8hJErbS6Ezbk/

Get Involved!
Sign up for the Coalition on Homelessness ACTION ALERTS here: https://www.cohsf.org/take-action/

Weather report brought to you by Bella Hangnail, off her new album Mask Era. Listen to the full album here: https://bellahangnail.bandcamp.com/

Support for Street Speak comes from our listeners! Please donate to us online at https://coalition.networkforgood.com

Support the Show.