Madison Alvarado

San Francisco

Reporter at San Francisco Public Press

@sfpublicpress reporter focused on housing + homelessness, ✉️: [email protected]

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Articles

SF Protesters Denounce Federal Cuts, Call Out Local Reps

1 month ago | sfpublicpress.org | Madison Alvarado

In the face of escalating threats to healthcare programs like Medicaid, the implementation of anti-immigrant policies, and the outsized role of unelected billionaires in Trump’s administration, protesters in San Francisco have a message for state and local elected officials: “Get a f—ing backbone,” said demonstrator Fred Sherburn-Zimmer, organizing and policy director at the Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco.
SF Has Spotty Compliance With Encampment Clearing Policy

1 month ago | sfpublicpress.org | Madison Alvarado

In the wake of new, court-ordered training, San Francisco employees complied sometimes with a years-old policy designed to help people living on the streets retain essential belongings, new records show. Despite logging at least 126 encampment clearings in a recent three-month period, the city recorded just 11 signed acknowledgements from unhoused people, which are required when belongings are seized in sweeps.
Mass Deportation Threats Put Caregivers, Seniors on Alert

2 months ago | sfpublicpress.org | Madison Alvarado

President Donald Trump’s promises to implement mass deportations and other potential changes to immigration policies could strain an already-understaffed health care workforce, making it harder for older adults and people with disabilities to receive care at home and in nursing facilities.
SF Seizing More Wheelchairs, Tents from Homeless People

2 months ago | sfpublicpress.org | Madison Alvarado

San Francisco city workers have confiscated unhoused people’s property more often in recent years, including mobility devices such as wheelchairs, an analysis of public records by the Public Press shows. Property confiscation and encampment clearings increased over the last four years, hitting their highest count in 2024.
SF Service Providers Seek Clarity on Federal Grant Freeze

2 months ago | sfpublicpress.org | Madison Alvarado

An order from President Trump freezing all federal grants on Monday night could affect food and health care programs that serve low income San Franciscans, older adults, and people with disabilities, among other programs. The order was slated to take effect Tuesday, but that same day a federal judge paused part of the order related to existing programs until Feb. 3. In the meantime, local and state agencies are scrambling to figure out what programs will be affected.
Anti-Trump Protests to Fill Bay Area Streets This Weekend

Jan 17, 2025 | sfpublicpress.org | Madison Alvarado

A broad array of Bay Area groups are staging protests this weekend to denounce President-elect Donald Trump’s right-wing policies and what organizers identify as rising fascism, as well as rallies to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy.
SF Cannot Prove it Follows Encampment ‘Sweeps’ Policy

Dec 20, 2024 | sfpublicpress.org | Madison Alvarado

San Francisco cannot prove it follows an aspect of its own encampment clearing policy intended to help people retain their essential belongings.
He Didn't Vote While Homeless. Now He Organizes Others.

Dec 10, 2024 | sfpublicpress.org | Madison Alvarado

Solomon Bukenya has never lost hope for very long. At 64 years old, he has survived a civil war and genocide in Rwanda, a transoceanic move to seek asylum in the United States, the loss of his leg, homelessness and addiction. These days, his hope is for his community to make themselves heard through civic engagement. And in the wake of a local election that saw unimpressive turnout, his resolute focus on the next step remains.
With Sweeps Uptick, Homeless People Losing IDs, Access to Aid

Nov 21, 2024 | sfpublicpress.org | Madison Alvarado

An escalation in encampment clearings may be increasingly leaving unhoused San Franciscans without vital documents, making them less able to access services and, this month, vote, service providers and homeless advocates say.
Proposition G Would Help SF Seniors Get Affordable Housing

Nov 1, 2024 | sfpublicpress.org | Madison Alvarado

This article is adapted from an episode of our podcast “Civic.” Click the audio player below to hear the full story. To many older adults in San Francisco, especially those on fixed incomes, it can feel like they are just one rent increase or health problem away from becoming homeless. Dewen and her husband have lived with that anxiety for nearly two decades. When they moved to San Francisco in 2008, they signed up to receive affordable housing through the city’s lottery system.