In March, we issued an invitation for City Churchers to put their faith into action in response to proposed cuts that would eliminate funding for civil legal services. As the city budgeting cycle continues, our partners at Open Door Legal have once again reached out to us and to request spiritual solidarity and practical action.

WHAT’S HAPPENING?
The city budgeting process in San Francisco is comprised of a series of important steps:

• MARCH: The Mayor’s Office provides budget instructions to City departments, outlining priorities and guidelines for balancing revenue and spending. 
• MARCH: Once the proposed budget is published, there is a period for public comment and feedback which can guide the Mayor’s Office in potential revisions to the budget.
• MAY: The finalized version is then submitted to the Board of Supervisors for review and amendment. This is the Mayor’s proposed budget.
• JUNE: After further public comment and a review period, the Board of Supervisors then vote to approve it. 
• JULY: That final budget is then adopted in July, which is the beginning of the City’s fiscal year.

You may remember that when the Mayor’s Office first proposed a budget back in March, the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD) recommended defunding general legal services and shifting the money instead to shelter construction. This cut will slash $2M (.01% of SF's $15.9 FY25 budget) from Open Door Legal’s annual budget and severely impact their ability to provide legal services to our most marginalized neighbors.

While this decision is understandable given SF's overall budget deficit, a recent study has shown that legal aid is by far the most cost-effective way of reducing homelessness. ODL estimates that should these cuts go through, homelessness will actually increase by 4% because of lost assets and lack of legal services to protect our neighbors who are existing right on the edge of losing their homes.

The Mayor’s budget has revealed that the proposed cuts remain. Now it is up to the Board of Supervisors. There is a period for public comment from June 12-23, before the budget’s final approval and adoption on June 25.

WHY SHOULD WE HELP?
In a city where resources are unevenly distributed, justice should not be a commodity good. We believe that Open Door Legal’s services embody God’s love for our neighbors and advance the kind of justice we long for when we pray for God’s kingdom to come. The prophet Isaiah spoke these words on behalf of Israel’s God, to God’s people: “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free?” (Is 58:6). The apostle Paul reminds us that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness” (Eph 6:12). In other words: the struggle against injustice – against a world curved out of joint, warped in ways that hurt God’s beloved – is both practical and spiritual.

HOW CAN WE HELP?
Following in Jesus’ footsteps, we have access to spiritual resources that strengthen us in the ongoing journey to courageously participate in the work of God’s transformative love. Because of this, we are issuing this invitation to collective action through spiritual solidarity and practical action:

SPIRITUAL SOLIDARITY
Adrian will be leading a Justice Solidarity Fast (hunger strike) that will run from June 11-25: you can read more about that here. As a congregation, we commit to stand in solidarity in two ways:

• Join the Fast. At least one person per day to fast and pray with Adrian, from 6/11-25. You can sign up to do that here.
• Join in Prayer. A multi-church online prayer group will meet to pray for and support Adrian once a week during the fast. You can sign up to participate here and receive the link.

PRACTICAL ACTION
We recognize that not everyone can participate at the same level. Because of this, we’ve identified ways for community members to take action at varying  levels of commitment:

• High impact: attend the live Public Comment session on June 23. According to Adrian: “Every San Franciscan should do this at least once in their life”! It’s at City Hall beginning at 10 am, and participants can expect to wait 6+ hours to give public comment.
• Medium impact: attend a rally for legal services on June 11 at City Hall, from 9-10 am. This will also mark the beginning of the Justice Solidarity Fast.
• Low impact: call/email your Supervisor, multiple times throughout the public comment period. You can use this template and make repeated calls to have your voice heard.

Our goal in all of this is for our collective voice to be heard clearly and emphatically by our city leadership, and for legal services funding to be restored. Please prayerfully consider how you can support Adrian, our partners at Open Door Legal, and most importantly, the neighbors who will surely be harmed by the loss of these legal services.

If you have any questions, please reach out: you can email elders@citychurchsf.org, and a member of the board’s public witness committee will get back to you.

Faithfully,

The City Church Public Witness Team
Sarah Dahl, elder
Emily McGinley, pastor
Evan Coughenour
Manuel Penton
Julia Jackson