Up until 1995, basic eviction defense services were funded by the city via CDBG money (which was supplemented with federal legal services money). Federal cutbacks forced an end to CDBG money and for a period there were no eviction defense services in San Francisco. The Eviction Defense Collaborative now provides these services.
 The EDC serves thousands of people every year with just 1.5 staff positions and many volunteers. The EDC does not represent tenants in court but provides tenants with the legal paperwork (answers, motions, interrogatories, etc.) necessary to raise their defense. This model enables them to serve many people with few resources and ensures that tenants get their day in court.  With the support of Supervisors Tom Ammiano and Leland Yee, a group of people from community-based organizations, who call themselves the “People’s Budget,” created alternative budget requests and tried to open up the budget process.  Supervisor Yee, chair of the Finance Committee, held a series of hearings prior to June 1 in order to hear from the public what we want and need from the Board of Supervisors.  Tenant groups and activists were present at all of these meetings advocating for funding for the EDC and other housing issues. History of the People’s Budget  Last year, members of community based organizations that advocate for poor people, like the Coalition for Ethical Welfare Reform and Women’s Agenda, banded together to create their own budget.  Typically, poor people do not get the opportunity to have a voice in the budget process and these community based organizations were determined to present this opportunity for their members.
 Supervisor Tom Ammiano introduced an amendment to support the People’s Budget that called for $30 million more for social services, housing, child care, mental health care, and living wage jobs.  Supervisor Leland Yee and Sue Bierman were the only other members of the Board to support the amendment.  The budget surplus was put into a reserve fund for a “rainy-day.” Creating Community-Based Budgeting  Eileen Hansen, from the Women’s Agenda For Action, believes that the People’s Budget ‘99 was “a critical response to the desperate needs of people in this city.”  She noted, “it is appalling that we have created a budget process that, for all intents and purposes, leaves the people out of what arguably is the most important issue of the year.  Year after year we ignore what people have been saying their needs are and create a budget that does not serve the city’s people well.  This must stop.  And this year, we have a chance to see a true ‘People’s Budget’  taken seriously, thanks to the hard work of many communities and the willingness of Tom Ammiano and Leland Yee to listen to us.” Housing  The housing portion of the budget fell into three categories:  a fund to establish a community land trust, an eviction prevention program which included funding for eviction defense counseling and money to help tenants facing eviction for non-payment of rent, and a move-in cost/subsidy fund for homeless people who have lost housing due to natural disasters or temporary rental subsidies for individuals at-risk of becoming homeless.
 Most importantly, it included funding for the Eviction Defense Collaborative (EDC).