No Late Fees for Housing Referrals

When I wrote about my hope that this month’s Superbowl would be an uncharacteristically peaceful and inclusive one for the homeless population in New Jersey, I had no idea that the game would actually lead to finding housing for one youth experiencing homelessness. A young man who was spotted at the Seahawks celebration dressed in San Francisco 49ers garb inspired die hard SF fans to get the boy a ticket to an upcoming game. Upon learning the youth was actually a homeless ward of the state, fans raised almost $25,000 to support him.

San Franciso, while having some of the most generous football fans in the league, is also home to a revolutionary approach to homeless services – from inside its main library.

In what seems to be an ever increasingly expensive culture, there are few free places to spend long periods of your day without being asked to purchase a coffee or get off the bus at the next stop. Combined with their climate control and their access to books and internet resources, this makes libraries a desirable destination for many experiencing homelessness. This is well known not only by those who are homelessness, but by other library patrons and staff as well. Branches, often those in urban settings, that see a consistent homeless population visiting them, have approached the situation in very different ways.

In Summer 2012, Newport Beach public libraries put an end to this trend by banning anyone who “lacks personal hygiene.” Sleeping bags and blankets – even if carried in, not used on site – are also banned. Many other districts have similar policies or bans in effect.

The San Francisco Main Library is not among them. In 2010, this branch employed Leah Esguerra, a licensed social worker in the library five days a week. Much like Michelle Walsh, who calls Penn Station in Newark her office, Esguerra meets with individuals who are struggling with homelessness in a place they already visit regularly. She strikes up conversations, makes referrals, and aims to make calling security an option only in extreme circumstances, instead of just because someone is sleeping. Her program also employs formerly homeless individuals part time to help connect with those using the library and encourage them to seek help.

Since her start in 2009, Esguerra has helped more than 60 individuals find housing, and she and her staff – individuals who were once homeless themselves – have connected hundreds of people to services.

Demand for positions like Walsh’s and Esguerra’s exist because they can meet individuals experiencing homelessness in locations that are already popular for other reasons. The Department of Social Services – in most city’s, anyway – doesn’t offer free internet access of comfortable chairs for a few hours.  The success of each of these positions suggests that homelessness is not a problem we need to ban from public spaces, but that we can use these places to meet people where they already are, and help them find a better place to stay.