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Nuns from the Fraternite Notre Dame Mary of Nazareth propose opening a soup kitchen at a vacant commercial space at 1930 Mission Street after a rent increase displaced them from their Tenderloin location. Unfortunately, some people are opposing their work sharing free food with hungry people.
These articles provide good background:
http://missionlocal.org/2016/03/displaced-nuns-to-open-soup-kitchen-in-new-sf-mission-space/
You can help convince the City of San Francisco to approve this soup kitchen in three ways.
1) Sign and share an online petition: https://www.change.org/p/san-francisco-planning-commission-support-the-sisters-soup-kitchen-in-san-francisco
2) Write a support letter to the San Francisco Planning Commissioners. A sample letter with instructions follows:
SUPPORT THE SISTERS OF THE FRATERNITE NOTRE DAME
HOW TO SEND A SUPPORT LETTER:
Support letters can be sent as an email or as an attachment document. Please send your letter to Tom Tunny at ttunny@reubenlaw.com for inclusion in the Sisters’ project application to the City.
If you are unable to email your letter, please mail a printed copy to Tom Tunny at One Bush Street, Suite 600 San Francisco, CA 94104 or hand deliver directly to Sister Marie.
OVERVIEW:
The letter below is a sample version – the most effective support letters are written from a personal point-of-view of the sisters and their mission. Please use the following version as a template.
—————————————————————————————————————————————
DATE
San Francisco Planning Commission
1650 Mission Street, Suite 400
San Francisco, CA 94103
Dear Planning Commissioners,
Please support the Sisters of the Fraternite Notre Dame in their efforts to relocate the Mary of Nazareth soup kitchen to 1930 Mission Street. The Sisters provide an essential safety net for some of San Francisco’s most vulnerable residents who are struggling to make ends meet or are currently living on the street.
Since 2008, the Sisters have become an integral part of the San Francisco community, serving free meals from their previous location in the Tenderloin. Due to a dramatic rise in rent, the Sisters must find a new site in order to continue doing their good work in the City.
Through the generosity of those inspired by the Sisters’ mission to serve the poor, the Sisters have secured this ideally-suited new location at 1930 Mission. As they have demonstrated over the years, the Sisters know how to create a safe, controlled environment by running an efficient operation and by creating personal relationships with the people who come to them for help.
The Sisters represent all of the values that make San Francisco a welcoming place for all people. Please support them as they strive to improve the lives of so many.
NAME
ORGANIZATION AND TITLE (IF APPLICABLE)
ADDRESS
3) Attend the Planning Commission Hearing on Thursday, January 12th beginning at 12 Noon, City Hall, Room 400 (I will post more specific information the week of the hearing).
Thank you for your help.
Here is an update about the City of San Francisco’s misguided, ridiculous plan to fence off a relatively new public park in order to chase away homeless people and other park users; the old “Sweep It Under The Rug” approach to social issues.
http://missionlocal.org/2016/07/troubled-public-plaza-will-be-fenced-off-to-divert-homeless/.
An earlier post complete with a link to an online petition: https://sffnb.org/2015/09/16/keep-mccoppin-hub-plaza-open-and-unfenced/.
Here’s the announcement from a former SFFNB bottom liner:
“Hey FNB,
Hope all is well! It’s not quite Food Not Bombs, but wanted to mention a Burrito Project is starting up in SF. An ad-hoc group meets and makes 1-300 burritos once a month, then hands them out / talks with folks in the Mission, Potrero, & SOMA. More than anything, we’re in need of more people who’d like to bike and hand out burritos. The next project is afternoon/evening of Monday, June 27 out of Martin de Porres (225 Potrero Ave). If any FNB folks are interested, you’re welcome to join, I think the best place to get updated details is on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/burritoprojectsf/ https://www.facebook.com/events/1804724209751068/”
Supervisor Jane Kim, the decisive vote in the infamous Twitter tax break/giveaway, is leading the effort to put a fence around the newly renovated McCoppin Hub Plaza, specifically to bar homeless people from this public space.
More detail in this article: http://missionlocal.org/2015/09/mccoppin-hub-will-be-fenced-to-keep-out-homeless/.
Help stop this nonsense by signing this online petition: https://www.change.org/p/san-francisco-supervisor-jane-kim-no-homelessness-fence-save-unrestricted-public-access-to-mccoppin-hub-community-plaza.
Check this site for updates.
Posting to this website is sporadic. If you have ideas, contact us at sffnbvolunteers@riseup.net.
San Francisco Food Not Bombs endorses the California Right to Rest Campaign and has sent letters of support to the sponsoring State Senator, Carol Liu, and to our local State Senator, Mark Leno.
More information on the campaign here: http://wraphome.org/?p=4058&option=com_wordpress&Itemid=119.
Here’s our support letter:
March 23, 2015 Honorable Carol Liu California State Senate State Capitol Sacramento, CA 95814 Re: Right to Rest Act of 2015, SB 608 (Liu) - Support Dear Senator Liu, San Francisco Food Not Bombs supports your bill, SB 608, which will end the criminalization of rest and accompanying violations of basic human and civil rights for all people, regardless of their housing status. In doing so, SB 608 would encourage the diversion of expenditures on citing and jailing people for resting in public spaces on efforts to prevent homelessness. California, with only 12 percent of the country’s overall population but 22 percent of its homeless population and 25 percent of its homeless veteran population, is at the epicenter of the criminalization of homelessness. According to the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, California cities are substantially more likely than cities in other states to ban rest. While only 33 percent of non-California cities restrict this activity, 74 percent of California cities ban the practice. Researchers from the Policy Advocacy Clinic at the University of California at Berkeley Law School analyzed the prevalence of these types of municipal codes restricting rest and sharing of food in 58 California cities for its report “California’s New Vagrancy Laws: The Growing Enactment and Enforcement of Anti-Homeless Laws in the Golden State.” Researchers identified over 500 municipal laws criminalizing standing, sitting, resting, sleeping and sharing of food in public places as well as laws making it illegal to ask for money, nearly nine laws per city, on average. The study also found that the number of ordinances targeting those behaviors rose along with the rise in homelessness following the sharp decline of federal funding for affordable housing that was cut in the early 1980s and again with the Great Recession in 2008. Criminalizing practices which are not criminal not only worsens the condition of people without homes, but also narrows their opportunities to escape homelessness. By acknowledging the failure of municipal laws that criminalize poverty and homelessness, we hope that passage of this legislation will improve the focus on more humane and effective responses to homelessness. The Right to Rest Act of 2015 will end the practice of citing and imprisoning Californians for resting, sharing food or practicing religion in public. San Francisco Food Not Bombs supports SB 608 and thanks you for introducing this important legislation. Sincerely, San Francisco Food Not Bombs
Thanks to the efforts of outstanding volunteers, San Francisco Food Not Bombs shared food with the Mission community at the June 14th Plaza 16 Festival organized by the Plaza 16 Coalition, of which SFFNB is a member.
The Festival celebrated the vitality and diversity of the 16th Street BART Plaza. Some press reports about the Festival follow: http://missionlocal.org/2014/06/16th-and-mission-project-foes-ponder-next-move/ and http://48hillsonline.org/2014/06/14/scenes-plaza-party/.
The Plaza 16 Coalition formed to resist the gentrifying real estate development proposed next to the plaza and to preserve and improve the area for existing residents. For more information about the Coalition and to join our efforts, check out its webpage: http://plaza16.org/.
Because today’s Mission District May Day Rally and March coincided with San Francisco Food Not Bombs’ weekly Thursday sharing at the Mission/16th Street BART Plaza, some FNB activists brought out some food a little early to share with some marchers that were freely expressing themselves at the intersection of Mission and 16th Streets.
SFPD officers quickly surrounded a group of marchers, refusing to let them voluntarily return from the street to the sidewalk. The cops arrested about ten people, including some FNB members, and tackled at least one detainee. They also flipped over our serving table, destroying the rice, bread and guacamole intended for hungry people, and stole the table, a SFFNB sign and some of our serving bowls and utensils.
We want the SFPD to immediately free the arrested people and return our equipment. The food is forever wasted.
Fortunately, other activists shared the rest of their delicious, prepared food with community members on the BART Plaza at 7PM as usual.
UPDATE: The SFPD released all except two of the arrested people Thursday night, charging them with various misdemeanors.
San Francisco FNB has joined the Plaza 16 Coalition, which is organizing to insure that the BART Plaza is open and welcoming to everybody. Our Thursday chapter has shared food at the Plaza for many years.
The Plaza 16 Coalition’s major campaign is to stop a proposed 10 story, 350 unit luxury housing development proposed for 1979 Mission Street, adjacent to the NE BART Plaza (replacing the Walgreens complex and parking lot). If built, this development will feature rents for $3500 -$5000/month and overshadow the block, which includes the Marshall Elementary School. Plus, it will hasten gentrification and evictions in the immediate area and endanger our FNB sharing and the community members that share food with us.
The Coalition is hosting a Community Forum on this proposed development on Thursday, May 15th from 6 – 8PM at the Victoria Theater, 2961 16th Street (at Capp).
For more information about the Plaza 16 Coalition, check out its website: http://plaza16.org/.
A new chapter, SOMA Food Not Bombs, is sharing sandwiches with people on Fridays in the Civic Center Area beginning at 7 PM at the intersection of Grove, Hyde and Market Streets next to the BART entrance. For more information or to volunteer, contact SOMA Food Not Bombs by telephone at 415-797-9229 or by email at somafoodnotbombs@gmail.com.
San Francisco Food Not Bombs 