Advocates call on SF to find housing for homeless girl with complex medical condition

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Homeless advocates in San Francisco are calling on the city to find stable housing for a young girl with a complex medical condition.

Samara Zavala is a student at Cesar Chavez Elementary School, and her family has been unhoused for the last two years.

Samara is currently recovering from multiple surgeries on her spine and skull.

Her family says the city's Department of Homelessness told them they don't qualify for housing assistance.

"The system is just not giving her enough points, even with the medical condition," Geri Almanza with the United Educators of San Francisco said. "The hospital wanted to send her home to recuperate, but she doesn't have a home to go to, to recuperate. That is why it's such an urgency for us today - so that she finds stable housing."

The Department of Homelessness says privacy laws prevent it from discussing individual cases, like Samara's, but it works closely with nonprofit partners to connect families experiencing homelessness with resources.