San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie’s latest solution to the city’s homelessness and drug crisis involves displacing 82 residents from a behavioral health hospital to make space for a crisis psychiatric ward serving those on the streets.
Soon, patients at the Behavioral Health Center at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, such as Donna Mateer, who have complicated histories with mental illness, will have to leave a place she calls home, according to a report by the San Francisco Standard on Wednesday.
When Mateer was 14, she stole a wedding dress. In her 30s, she tried taking her own life by overdosing on pills. She had her stomach pumped and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. For the next 10 to 15 years, Mateer cycled through filthy and dilapidated board-and-care facilities and single-room occupancy hotels…