The Veterans Equity Center (VEC) is a nonprofit organization located in the South of Market (SoMa), a neighborhood that has been impacted by rapid development and gentrification. VEC has been an anchor organization in the SoMa community for over 17 years, originally established to respond to the needs of Filipino WWII Veterans and their families. One of the greatest problem facing Filipino WWII Veterans was housing, especially overcrowding, habitability issues, and homelessness. As a result, the Bill Sorro Housing Program (BiSHoP) was formed in 2009 to primarily provide tenants rights education through a series of monthly workshops, to inform veterans of their tenants rights and to assist their families through application assistance and tenant counseling. The original composition of the BiSHoP coordinating committee included former staff of Manilatown Heritage Foundation, a tenants rights attorney, social workers and educators.

Today, BiSHoP case managers assist households with tenant rights related issues, such as bad faith owner move-in eviction, wrongful rent increase, unjust evictions, habitability issues, intimidation and harassment, request for repairs, master tenant and sub-tenant mediation, change of lease agreement terms, and discrimination against Section 8 voucher holders in rent-controlled housing, in-law units, as well as inclusionary housing.

This campaign will help us raise $2,000 needed for the next 3 months to:

• Develop tenants rights education curriculum for our clients
• Facilitate 1 tenants rights workshop
• Train volunteers to support our application assistance and tenant counseling services.

We are committed in ensuring that our clients have a better understanding of the affordable housing system and are given the tools to address tenants rights issues that may impact them. VEC, alongside a group of dedicated volunteers, will work to improve our services by providing more tenants rights education. Your donation will help support the expansion of BiSHoP’s services and volunteer program.

Make a donation, No contribution is too small. Even a gift of $20 can go a long way by provided clients the documents they need to submit an application or appeal. Please help spread the word about our campaign to your friends.

BiSHoP is named after activist Bill Sorro who said, “What we do is not for the people, but with the people.” Join us in our efforts to help San Francisco residents FIND, SUSTAIN, and DEFEND their housing.

Laura started out as a VEC volunteer back in 2014. Working with our BiSHoP staff, Laura provided application assistance and Spanish translation for our mobile access to housing workshops. She was also engaged in community mobilizations focused on protecting long-term residents at risk of eviction and displacement. Today, Laura continues to serve the community as one of the BiSHoP housing case managers.

Recently, Laura helped a Tenderloin tenant who was living in very unfavorable conditions including bad smell, vermin, and lack of cleanliness near her apartment. After working with Laura, this tenant learned more about her tenants rights and was able to write to her property manager detailing her concerns. Because of this action plan created by Laura and the tenant, the property manager responded by addressing the repair and maintenance requests outlined in the letter. The tenant now lives in a significantly better situation.

We hope to expand our space for learning and action for our volunteers and staff so we can have more leaders in our community who are willing to support tenants like the one mentioned above.