{"id":63595,"date":"2024-12-12T15:58:23","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T23:58:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/?p=63595"},"modified":"2025-04-29T18:44:53","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T01:44:53","slug":"sf-homeless-shelter-latina-mothers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/en\/sf-homeless-shelter-latina-mothers\/","title":{"rendered":"As homeless mothers seek refuge, waiting takes a toll"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At the 24th Street BART Plaza, on a chilly October morning, the day began early. Street vendors set up carts with steaming tamales and hot coffee, hoping to lure one of the many construction workers, nurses, and city workers rushing to their next bus. Across the street, the Mission\u2019s storied restaurants slowly came to life as servers unlocked storefronts. In the middle of the plaza, Yaneth stood waiting, holding her baby\u2019s stroller with one hand and her nine-year-old boy\u2019s hand with the other.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lea esta historia en espa\u00f1ol.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For several weeks, the plaza served as a morning refuge for the Guatemalan single mother and her two children. Each night, they slept at the Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8\u2019s gymnasium, which transforms into an emergency shelter for homeless families in the evening. By 7:00 a.m., they were required to leave, giving way to students arriving for class. Yaneth, 32, would bring her kids to the plaza to wait: for the city to wake, for her son\u2019s school to open and for a brief pause from the relentless effort to find a stable home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m exhausted, there\u2019s no rest, really,\u201d said Yaneth, who is one of the more than 500 families on the city\u2019s permanent shelter waitlist. \u201cI\u2019ve dreamed of having my own place, and when I wake up, there\u2019s nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n