The beloved nuns behind a San Francisco soup kitchen may soon be homeless themselves

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The beloved nuns behind a San Francisco soup kitchen may soon be homeless themselves
Washington Post

…Inside the modest space, two French-speaking nuns sleep in a tiny back room and prepare daily lunches for hundreds of homeless people, a service that has become indispensable in the poor Tenderloin neighborhood. But all around it are telltale signs of the city’s rapid development, as the dingy street on which the soup kitchen stands is just around the corner from a revitalized district with a Bloomingdale’s, Levi’s and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Since 2008, Sisters Mary Benedicte and Mary of the Angels have offered a refuge from the streets with their baked goods and home cooking, which is among the most popular soup kitchen fare around, the San Francisco Chronicle reported…MORE:
 
The landlord should be ashamed of himself for threatening to hike these nun’s rent.
 
Believe me,we truly need thenuns in San Francisco --every time I walk down our main street in downtown San Francisco I am ashamed – there are literally hundreds sleeping on the street and begging – one of the men who worked for our Parish tried to get one of these men who was begging in front of our Church to St. Anthony’s dining room but he wouldn’t go – just wanted a hand-out – wonder what he was going to spend the money for???
 
ringil said:
The landlord should be ashamed of himself for threatening to hike these nun’s rent.
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The landlord has to pay his bills too. And in SF they are expensive.

You’d think the oh so liberal residents of SF would’ve been so generous as to help the nuns out, or eliminated homeless entirely.
 
ARSpade said:
The landlord has to pay his bills too. And in SF they are expensive.

You’d think the oh so liberal residents of SF would’ve been so generous as to help the nuns out, or eliminated homeless entirely.
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Help won’t be coming out of their pockets.
 
ARSpade said:
The landlord has to pay his bills too. And in SF they are expensive.

You’d think the oh so liberal residents of SF would’ve been so generous as to help the nuns out, or eliminated homeless entirely.
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I wonder how many properties this landlord owns and and how much money he makes off of these properties.

Part of the problem with SF and other cities like Boston is/was the removal of rent control. When tent control laws are ended it gives license for unfettered ret raising and pushes low-income individuals out of the city.

It can’t be all about the $$. Look at the good work these nuns are doing.

But if it’s only about unfettered capitalism then there isn’t going to be any concern for these nuns- only for the bottom line.
 
ringil said:
I wonder how many properties this landlord owns and and how much money he makes off of these properties.

Part of the problem with SF and other cities like Boston is/was the removal of rent control. When tent control laws are ended it gives license for unfettered ret raising and pushes low-income individuals out of the city.

It can’t be all about the $$. Look at the good work these nuns are doing.

But if it’s only about unfettered capitalism then there isn’t going to be any concern for these nuns- only for the bottom line.
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Nobody’s stopping you from putting together the funds to buy the building.

You’d still have to pay that 1.16% property tax on whatever value the city thinks that it’s worth.
 
We have a similar (if not the same) order in Chicago who serve the homeless. In addition to feeding and providing some comfort to them, they also provide an “address” for the homeless where they can be reached when hopefully some employment opportunities arise. That benefit is priceless.
 
ringil;13656394 said:
San Francisco has excellent rent control. One doesn’t mess with our Tenant’s Union. I believe that the building the sisters are using may be outside of the parameters of specified housing. Perhaps it’s a commercial building? Regardless, it appears it is legal for the owner to increase the monthly rent as he has done.

On the positive side, the Bay Area is doing a LOT to help. I know that the Interfaith Council is on it; there are Go Fund Me pages set up, pledges to get them through the next year, and of course legal aid is doing what they can. I don’t know if they will stay where they are or find a new location in that neighborhood, but people in San Francisco are aware of their needs and rising to the occasion. It makes me proud.
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ComplineSanFran said:
San Francisco has excellent rent control. One doesn’t mess with our Tenant’s Union. I believe that the building the sisters are using may be outside of the parameters of specified housing. Perhaps it’s a commercial building? Regardless, it appears it is legal for the owner to increase the monthly rent as he has done.

On the positive side, the Bay Area is doing a LOT to help. I know that the Interfaith Council is on it; there are Go Fund Me pages set up, pledges to get them through the next year, and of course legal aid is doing what they can. I don’t know if they will stay where they are or find a new location in that neighborhood, but people in San Francisco are aware of their needs and rising to the occasion. It makes me proud.
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Yeah, San Francisco has strong, wonderful rent control for apartment dwellers, but it has no commercial rent control.

sfrb.org/fact-sheet-1-general-information

It’s seems crazy to me that rent for a small commercial space in that area is three-and-a-half grand a month, but to raise it to five-and-a-half-grand a month is just madness. Or so it seems to me. I know what those buildings in the Tenderloin are like, and I know what the neighborhood itself is like. Anyway, I hope these nuns can stay and continue with their work and everything else they’re doing; it’s not like there are a huge number of positive things going on in that part of the city, after all.

On an unrelated side-note, I think that if revolution or civil war were to ever break out anywhere in this country, I think San Francisco would be a likely spot. The cost of living and the cost of rent is absurdly high in most of the city, and at the same time there are huge, huge numbers of homeless people. For instance, many of the libraries are essentially homeless shelters during business hours. The disparity between rich and poor couldn’t possibly be any starker.
 
ComplineSanFran said:
San Francisco has excellent rent control. One doesn’t mess with our Tenant’s Union. I believe that the building the sisters are using may be outside of the parameters of specified housing. Perhaps it’s a commercial building? Regardless, it appears it is legal for the owner to increase the monthly rent as he has done.

On the positive side, the Bay Area is doing a LOT to help. I know that the Interfaith Council is on it; there are Go Fund Me pages set up, pledges to get them through the next year, and of course legal aid is doing what they can. I don’t know if they will stay where they are or find a new location in that neighborhood, but people in San Francisco are aware of their needs and rising to the occasion. It makes me proud.
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Good to hear Compline!
 
Good news today for the San Francisco nuns. Not only have donations been pouring in, a Go Fund Me account has been raising thousands of dollars from all sorts of people, but today entrepreneur Tony Robbins swooped into town and handed the sisters a check for $25,000, and paying the owner of the building the monies he requested.

Tony Robbins said that he is committed to getting the nuns through this next year, and then help them find a more suitable place for their business. Do read about his intention to help build this ministry into a self-sustaining work. I think it’s all good. A day at a time, yes, but all good for the nuns, and of course for the homeless souls they feed.

sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Tony-Robbins-saves-homeless-helping-S-F-nuns-6827881.php
 
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