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Homeless Families Visit SF City Hall To Voice Concerns

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - San Francisco City Hall was the scene of a protest Thursday by homeless families who want Mayor Ed Lee to do more to help get people off the streets and into housing.

"I'm just hoping that output will, you know, be maybe opening the mayor's eyes to the reality of how many people really do struggle," Gloria Fuentes explained why she participated in Thursday's demonstration with several dozen other homeless families. She has been living in a garage with her 14-year-old son since January.

"It's just one day at a time with the agencies," she added. "We keep checking in with agencies, getting their support, just looking, searching and hoping."

Homeless Families Pay a Visit to SF City Hall

"We have the largest wait ever," confirmed Jennifer Friedenbach with San Francisco's Coalition on Homelessness. "And it keeps going up, which is very frightening."

"Families are waiting more than eight or nine months just to get a shelter bed," she added.

"We have a lot of work to do," acknowledged Bevan Dufty, Director of San Francisco's HOPE (Housing Opportunity, Partnerships and Engagement) program.

"We will honor our mothers by doing this good work, thank you so much for coming here today," he addressed the crowd.

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