SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Wearing a bright safety vest with the words “Safe Passage” on the back, Tatiana Alabsi strides through San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood to its only public elementary school, navigating broken bottles and stained sleeping bags along tired streets that occasionally reek of urine.
Along the way in one of America’s most notorious neighborhoods, she calls out to politely alert people huddled on sidewalks, some holding strips of tin foil topped with illicit drugs.
“Good afternoon, happy Monday!” Alabsi says to two men, one slumped forward in a wheelchair and wearing soft hospital socks and one slipper. Her voice is cheerful, a soothing contrast to the misery on display in the 50-block neighborhood that’s well-known for its crime, squalor and reckless abandon. “School time. Kids will be coming soon.”
Further along, Alabsi passes a man dancing in the middle of the street with his arms in the air as a squealing firetruck races by. She stops to gently touch the shoulder of a man curled up in the fetal position on the sidewalk, his head inches from the tires of a parked car.
Noncitizen voting becomes a center of 2024 GOP messaging
NHL PLAYOFFS: West best Dallas vs. defending champion Vegas headlines 1st
Convicted rapist charged with murder in killing of Connecticut visiting nurse, Joyce Grayson
NFL draft will include many Michigan men, maybe enough to break record set by 2022 Georgia Bulldogs
Wondrous Xinjiang: Xinjiang's mobile bazaar blooms ahead
Former South Africa leader Zuma promises jobs and free education as he launches party manifesto
Jackson library to be razed for green space near history museums
Soto's 2 homers, Gil's 14 strikeouts lead Yankees over White Sox 6
Firefighters douse a blaze at a historic Oregon hotel famously featured in 'The Shining'