Susan Neufeld, Vice President of Resident Programs and Services for BRIDGE Housing Corporation (BRIDGE), describes the existing 606-unit Potrero Terrace and Annex housing projects as “an island of poverty in a sea of wealth.” Unlike many distressed public housing complexes that are surrounded by other disadvantaged neighborhoods, residents of Potrero Terrace and Annex, with a median annual income of $14,000, are surrounded by Potrero Hill neighbors making ten times that much.
In addition to living on a daily basis with this glaring disparity, Potrero public housing residents also experience a range of the other causes of toxic stress associated with concentrated poverty. These can include racism, lack of job opportunities, chronic disease and disabilities, community violence, and a sense of powerlessness while navigating bureaucratic systems for needed services. Even the physical layout of the neighborhood – located on a steep hillside with limited connectivity within the site or to nearby neighborhoods, and no easy public transit access to necessary goods and services – has left residents isolated.
BRIDGE is the developer for Rebuild Potrero, a comprehensive housing, community building and resident services project undertaken by HOPE SF. HOPE SF is San Francisco’s version of the discontinued federal HOPE VI public housing revitalization program. One of four HOPE SF sites in San Francisco, Rebuild Potrero involves the redevelopment of the Potrero public housing projects that are currently home to over 1,300 residents.
[For more go to http://www.buildhealthyplaces....rancisco-california/]
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