October 2025 eNews
Dear friends,
As we write this, the Trump administration continues their onslaught on disabled communities and public health, spreading harmful and eugenicist misinformation about autism and vaccines. ICE raids continue, as our community members are ripped away from their homes and families. The genocide in Gaza goes on. COVID surges. It’s a very difficult time. We continue to be in solidarity with organizations like Autism Self Advocacy Network, who are speaking out about the dangerous aims of the “Make America Healthy Again” strategy, and we are active in the Bay Resistance coalition to fight fascism on the local and regional level.
One of these ways we can come together to meet this moment is through refusal to cooperate with the fascist regime that Trump is imposing. At our General Meeting next week, on Thursday, October 9 from 10am to 12:30pm, SDA staff members Shaya and Liza will lead a Noncooperation Training. Noncooperation is a form of nonviolent resistance where individuals, groups, or entire communities refuse to comply with the systems and institutions that uphold or advance fascist ideologies and practices. Stay for the final half hour of the meeting for a discussion on SDA’s membership model evolution, with time for discussion and questions. Register here for the hybrid October General Meeting, on Zoom and in-person in SF. RSVP for the Zoom link and location details. We hope you will join us to learn crucial organizing skills for keeping our communities safe and building power as seniors and disabled people in this moment.
If you can’t make it to the October General Meeting or are interested in a longer, more in-depth noncooperation training, find more details below about the Noncooperation Training hosted by Bay Resistance and other allies on October 5.
Read on to learn more about what SDA has been up to in the last month and how you can get involved in our current campaigns and upcoming events!
SDA News & Events
Bay Get Ready, Noncooperation Training
Sunday, October 5, 9am to 3:30pm in Oakland. RSVP to Bay Get Ready for location details.
With the growing threat of authoritarianism, mass ICE raids, attacks on communities of color across the country, and threats against our sanctuary cites, we need to get trained and organized to fight back.
Sponsored by Bay Resistance and others, this mass meeting and training will focus on:
Developing our noncooperation civil resistance strategy to defeat authoritarianism
On the ground skills we need to keep ourselves & our neighborhoods safe
Organizing skills we need to build a mass movement
Bring your friends and family. Childcare available upon request. Masks will be required and provided and participants are asked to take Covid tests before coming to the event. Food will be enjoyed outside.
Upcoming Healthcare Teach-In:
The Model Bill: Single Payer is Necessary but Not Enough
Thursday, October 30, 7 to 8pm on Zoom
Join our next Senior and Disability University and deep dive on the fight for Medicare for all. What's the difference between financing and delivery in health care? Why is it important to get it right and why do we need to remove profit from both? Find out at the latest in a free, virtual series of teach-ins followed by a discussion of what it will take to put single payer on the nation's agenda and achieve the health care system we deserve.
Register and find more info for The Model Bill teach-in here.
If you missed the first session of this multi-part healthcare teach-in series, It's Not Normal: The U.S. profit-driven "health care system", you can read a recap and watch the recording on our website.
Muni Forever Neighborhood Summit Drop In Planning Meetings
Tuesdays, 11:30am to 12:30pm on Zoom
Are you worried that your bus route/s will get cut amid Muni's budget crisis? Want to get involved?
Attend our weekly drop in meeting to get plugged in to the Muni Now, Muni Forever campaign. We will help you plan an event in your neighborhood.
Drop in if you want to help...
Plan Muni Forever meetings in your neighborhood to educate your neighbors about the Muni deficit and pending service cuts
Set up venues and logistics for community events
Connect our campaign with your book club, political club, or religious group
Ensure specific communities are informed about the potential changes to Muni
At these recurring drop in meetings, we will work with you to plan the logistics, content, and coordinate outreach for Muni Forever mini summits. Muni Forever drop-in session Zoom link here.
Registration isn’t required but if you can, let Mia know if you plan to attend by emailing her at mia@sdaction.org.
More Transit Justice Updates and Ways to Plug In
In September, SDA Transit Justice Team members met with the SFMTA to give input on the 29 Sunset Improvement Project. The 29 Sunset is the city's longest bus line, serving mostly neighborhood corridors from the Bayview to the Sunset. You can read about all of the Sunset Improvement Project proposals, watch an 8-minute presentation or take the survey here.
SDA members also met with a professor and her student from SF State University to give input on a civil engineering project to improve the tactile assistance domes on curb ramps. Those are the yellow ramp pads with raised dots to help people with visual impairments. Connect with Ocean at ocean@sdaction.org if you would like to know more or give feedback for the project.
Join Our Housing Organizing!
Save the date for the Tenant Protection Ordinance at the Planning Commission on Thursday, October 16, 12pm at SF City Hall, Room 400. Join us to speak to planning commissioners to ensure that the Tenant Protection Ordinance:
Requires disclosure of plans to demolish and early noticing of rights to tenants;
Prevents wrongful evictions and holds landlords accountable for bad behavior;
Guarantees the maximum possible relocation assistance allowed under the law; and
Enforces tenants’ rights to return to a comparable unit should their building be redeveloped.
Some important background information on the “abundance theory” which drives the YIMBY and market trickle down enthusiasts.
Evictions in SF are at an all time high. We need Rent Control Stories!
We are collecting rent control stories from both people who benefit from rent control and people who could benefit from rent control (which includes all of us). If you would like to tell your story as a senior or disabled supporter of rent control please contact Ocean at ocean@sdaction.org
With so many changes in our federal government, HUD tenants (people who receive housing assistance from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) are joining together to know our rights and stay informed as we build community! Please join us for a HUD Tenant Assembly on Saturday, October 25. For more information, connect with Ocean.
Member Spotlight: Jean Navarro
Jean is one of our longtime members and supporters, having worked as a Peer Advocate, and serving as a liaison with other members of the nearby Canon Kip Senior Center, of which she is also an active part. Jean has attended Senior and Disability Survival School through SDA, learning about Muni, housing, and, in her words, "anything that is good for seniors." Over the years, Jean has worked on a number of issues with SDA, advocating for improvements in Medicare and Medi-Cal, and most recently, she is part of a group of seven leaders from Canon Kip Senior Center, known as SDA Kalinga, who are part of our Muni Now, Muni Forever campaign.
Congratulations to Our Survival School Graduates!
In September we hosted four days of Senior and Disability Survival School classes at the TelHi Neighborhood Center in the North Beach Telegraph Hill neighborhood. The topics we covered included housing, accessible transit options, free food services, and In Home Support Services.
We worked with SFMTA and SDA staff for a hands-on orientation on filling out the Paratransit application form. Participants were strongly engaged throughout the whole series and were really excited about the graduation, with some of them saying it was their first graduation ever.
Interested in hosting a Survival School at your building, neighborhood center, library, or other space? Contact Education and Partnerships Manager Liza Mamedov at liza@sdaction.org.
Community Resource Corner
The Community Resource program is led by Damara Lopez and staffed by our team of Peer Advocates. The Peer Advocates field calls and concerns on a variety of issues and work to help people find the right support or redress for their problem.
If you need help...
Getting your benefits, such as SSI, SSDI, CalFresh
Finding home care
Understanding a confusing letter or document you received
Getting services in the language you prefer
With your housing situation
Our Peer Advocates can help answer your questions and direct you to the appropriate resources. Call 415-546-1333 and leave a message or come by during our drop-in hours. To find our up-to-date hours of operation, or to send us an email, visit the Community Resource page on our website.
Resource Highlight: SF Public Library Talking Books and Braille Center
SF Public Library's Talking Books and Braille C is a free library service for San Francisco residents who cannot access printed reading material due to a visual impairment or print disability. Visit the SF Main Library to check out talking books, braille books, and audio-described DVDs. A variety of access technology (AT) including computers, desktop video magnifiers, scanning and reading software, and a Braille embosser are also available for use.
Every month, the TBBC hosts book clubs, a writer’s salon, a Spanish-language music appreciation group, personalized technical help, and other community events.
Reading Recommendation: Accessible Organizing: Tips for Protest Organizers and Disabled Protesters
Check out this blog post from the American Association of People with Disabilities to find information and advice on best practices for both protest organizers and protestors with disabilities.
Community News & Events
Bomb Hills, Not People: Palestine Solidarity Action
Saturday, October 11, 2pm at Twin Peaks Summit
The Bay Area rides for Palestine. Skaters, bikers, runners, walkers - however you move, you’re welcome.
Bomb hills, not people. Free Palestine. All donations go to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund.
SDA is a co-sponsor of this event. To better ensure accessibility for all participants, the organizers have created the following:
1. Primary Route Map - Shows the hill-bomb route with elevation grades, medical personnel positions, and traffic control points
2. Spectator Accessibility Map - Specifically designed for supporters who want to participate without joining the hill-bomb, with color-coded zones.
3. Rally Transit Map - Comprehensive transit guide to the rally location with detailed Muni options from all parts of the city
Riders will be going down in organized "waves" in order to avoid pile-ups of people going at different speeds. Find the full schedule and RSVP here for the Palestine Solidarity Hill Bomb.
If you're interested in attending either as a rider or viewer, please email Damara at damara@sdaction.org so we can gather interest in organizing an SDA contingent.
Social Connection Week, October 6 through 10
Check out an event or two for Social Connection Week next week, October 6 through 10. Social Connection Week is an initiative of the NorCal Coalition for Social Connection at UCSF. The Coalition works to address social isolation and loneliness among older adults. Find more info on Social Connection Week events and register here.
Opportunities include a resource fair, a community celebration, and more!
White Cane Day
Saturday, October 4, 8am to 1:30pm
Lighthouse for the Blind's third annual march across the Golden Gate Bridge will take place on Saturday, October 4. This is a free event, open to all ages and all who are interested. Bring your canes, your guide dog, and your sighted allies as we all come together to celebrate the BVI community!
Participants can come to the Earle Baum Campus or Lighthouse HQ locations for LightHouse shuttles, or meet at the North Vista Point. An after-party with light refreshments will be held post-march at the LightHouse HQ in San Francisco. More information on White Cane Day, schedule, and registration link here.
Community Meeting on Affordable Senior Housing Proposed for Laguna Honda Hospital Campus
Wednesday, October 8, 7 to 8pm on Zoom
Mercy Housing is hosting a virtual community meeting to share about the new Affordable Senior Housing being proposed for the Laguna Honda Hospital Campus. In collaboration with the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development, Mercy Housing is in the midst of their design and community outreach efforts. Attend the community meeting to hear updates and share your feedback. Zoom link here for the Laguna Honda Senior Housing Community Meeting.
The Sutter Health CPMC (Davies Campus) Community Aquatic Group Exercise Program in San Francisco is Open!! We still need Your Support!
Did you know? The Sutter Health CPMC (Davies Campus) Community Aquatic Group Exercise Program in San Francisco is open! Your support is still needed to advocate for expanded classes for seniors and disabled people. Find more information about the warm pool and add your name to the petition here.
Let's build this movement together.
Please make a donation today!
Senior and Disability Action
P.O. Box 423388
San Francisco, CA 94103
www.sdaction.org
(415) 546-1333
Please let us know if you have any issue with the webpage format or if there are accessibility changes you think we should make. Thank you for reading!