Gina M. Fromer, PhD on LinkedIn: I was so honored to say farewell to our life long brother- Vernon Bush-… (2024)

It’s hard to stay silent about the encampment sweeps currently taking place across California. Every step we take to criminalize poverty and homelessness takes us farther away from the empathy and compassion we actually need to resolve the crisis. Homelessness is not a crime. So-called “clean-ups,” aren’t solutions. The solution is finding people housing: or better yet, preventing them from losing their housing in the first place! Over the past three years, GLIDE’s rental assistance program has helped over 1100 people and prevented over 500 evictions, and our health access and recovery programs also empower people to break vicious cycles. Do you think it helps children if their parents are criminalized for sleeping on the streets? If their possessions are swept up into plastic bags that might or might not be retrievable? We know that people have lost ID cards, medications, and job applications in the chaos of encampment sweeps. Just one reason why public health experts estimate this new era of sweeps could lead to a 25% rise in deaths among unhoused people. Countrywide surveys show that encampment sweeps result in police citations at least as often as they result in referrals to services; something for policy makers to keep in mind, given that compassion for the homeless has been steadily rising over the decades. In my blog post, I share citations to this research, and a letter-writing campaign from our Center for Social Justice urging lawmakers to focus on lasting solutions. Can I count on you to stand with me? GLIDE has been standing against encampment sweeps since the 60’s, and criminalizing homeless people does nothing but move us decades back into the past. San Francisco’s shelters only have capacity for less than half of our unhoused residents. Every time the City sweeps up an encampment, homeless people become more suspicious of authorities and harder to help. We focus on building trust and referring people to services because we believe in creating lasting change in the Tenderloin and San Francisco. Our newly launched Cecil Williams Community Ambassadors program patrols a ten-block radius around our building, providing case management and referrals while removing trash and graffiti. That's the way to clean up the city: with care and compassion, not criminalization.https://lnkd.in/gYQGk6r4

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In response to the San Francisco Chronicle article, “S.F. nonprofits give foil and pipes to fentanyl users. Critics say it’s making the drug crisis worse.” While I value diverse perspectives on combating the overdose epidemic, I want to clarify how GLIDE addresses this challenge.GLIDE offers a comprehensive approach to substance use disorder, including medically assisted treatment (referrals for methadone and suboxone), detox/inpatient bed referrals, safer drug use habits to prevent the spread of disease and death, and twelve-step programs for abstinence-based recovery. Our goal is to create safer, healthier communities for everyone.As a sixth-generation San Franciscan who grew up in the Bayview Hunters Point during the crack and heroin epidemic, I know personally the damage addiction causes. Shaming and judging people didn’t work then and doesn’t work now. What works is love, radical inclusivity, community, and resources to address the core issues driving addiction. This is GLIDE’s commitment, and we know it works. GLIDE has been supporting San Francisco’s most vulnerable for 60 years. Criticizing our approach for political reasons doesn’t solve the daily challenges we face. Last year, more families fell into homelessness and GLIDE served over 600,000 meals to the food insecure. Let's continue to work alleviate suffering together to heal San Francisco.Read my full response on ourReal Talk Blog series (https://lnkd.in/g6eHphXN). Our goal is to create a loving, just, and healthy society where all people flourish. I invite you tovisit GLIDE (https://lnkd.in/gekhZX8w) and see our work firsthand. Our doors are always open!

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I am one of the 44,000! What a special and empowering night! Let's go!!!

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Excuse me as I opine over this toxic literature-Omg!!! Please read this! Look up Project 2025. Taking us back to the ice ages. If this happens- we have failed. Don’t think they playing- as Taraji noted. So scary!!!! Changing govt as we know it folks!!! Please read and vote!

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Period!

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All these distractions as the Supreme Court is rolling back decades of progress we have made on the environment, women’s rights, and the treatment of our most vulnerable. Wake up everyone- our civil liberties are at risk!I was reading an article and this quoted statement hits the nail on the head: “Everyone wants to solve homelessness, but the real question is what’s the most effective and humane way to do it? The answer is never to arrest and fine people. We increasingly invest in these short-term illusions that some sort of change has occurred when really all you’re doing is just removing unsheltered people from view. You’re not extinguishing them. They still have to live someplace and exist.”I truly believe this is not what unconditional love is all about. We need to sit together as a city to come up with creative solutions to preventing homelessness in the first place. Enhanced safety net services, rental assistance programs, rent control- and health access services -to support people before they become homeless.We can’t law and order our way out of this problem. The flood gates have been opened. We will see the true humanity of our city. Dr. G

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Try and make it or tell a friend! Lots of good paying jobs - in community, for community!!

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