Editor -- Mayor Brown was correct in his criticism of Ken Garcia's article on the homeless in Golden Gate Park, but, unfortunately, for the wrong reasons. His anger seems to stem more from a public relations concern than a desire to address the problems of homelessness in the city. As a physician assistant at the Haight-Ashbury Free Medical Clinic, I work with people in the park and wish to address some of the issues in the article last week. According to the residents of the park that I spoke with, the needles found by the park rangers were in a biohazard box (the safest place they could be) and the fires mentioned were started by one individual who has been terrorizing people by setting their clothes on fire.
What disturbs me about Mayor Brown's homeless policy (moving people from being visible in the park to other areas of the city) and Ken Garcia's article is the failure to see the human face of this problem. The homeless are seen as either a PR nightmare or drug addicts and parolees. My experience in working with these individuals is that beyond being homeless, no other generalizations can be made.
The problem is complicated and there is no easy fix. The mayor's office is currently meeting with community members and people who work with the homeless; hopefully he will listen and provide the leadership and vision needed to address this complex issue. Journalists can delve deeper to provide coverage that is insightful, not sensational. Let's not stop caring for members of our community because they live outside. They are still members of the community with civil and human rights. Let's make San Francisco a model for the rest of the nation as it is on so many other issues.
SUSAN POFF
San Francisco
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/letterstoeditor/article/LETTERS-TO-THE-EDITOR-2795807.php#ixzz23P6L7cJX
The news hit hard in both San Francisco and Alameda public health communities, where Poff and Kamin spent decades as passionate advocates for the poor, as well as mentors to their younger colleagues.
Staff members gathered Saturdayat Bamberger's house to console one another, and on Sunday more left flowers at a growing memorial in front of the couple's home near Lake Merritt. They had recently moved to the Athol Avenue home from another section of Oakland and were in the middle of a renovation. The bottom floor was gutted and held up by supports, and the kitchen was newly constructed.
"Susan was the sweetest woman at the clinic, even when she was running around like crazy serving the homeless in the Tenderloin, she'd take time out for you when you had a question," said nurse manager Mike Arrajj of San Francisco, who stopped by the Oakland home to leave candles and flowers.
At the Housing and Urban Health Clinic, Poff saw patients and prescribed medicines. She also screened homeless applicants looking for permanent housing in one of the health department's 1,500 Direct Access to Housing units.
I am so youched, inasmuch as MINE was the LAST SCREENING she signed, I WAS HER LAST "Victory." I was Homeless over 35 Years, I was EJECTED from "DORE STREET EMERGANCY PSYCH CENTER" and "PROGRESS FOUNDATIONS" "SENIOR HOUSING" because of "SYMPTOMS" of "SCHIZOPHRENIA!" (which "Bothered" others!)
After Susan Found Out that a Tiny Old Man was Kicked OUT of MENTAL HEALTH SAFE HOUSES because of SYMPTOMS, I was given better consideration.
"All the cops, and all the people at S.F. General knew to call her to help get someone into the system," Bamberger said.
Her career began after graduating from UC Berkeley, when she went to El Salvador to volunteer in a health clinic. She took a job working at a low-income health clinic in New England before returning to San Francisco to work in the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic. There she provided free health care and mentored hundreds of medical students and nurse practitioners.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Oakland-couple-Susan-Poff-Robert-Kamin-mourned-2829356.php#ixzz23P7zLDpi
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