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Disclaimer: I may or may not make money off these links, and mostly I make so little that it goes towards my monthly/annual giving to non-profits/charities/501c3's. It's just my personal experience with a service that may or may not still exist as of this posting, and I hope you end up with a good experience whether it saves you money, improves your health care, or saves you a bureaucratic paperwork headache, too. If you know about something better or something I may have missed, please comment.
In an Emergency:
Call 911. If it's not an emergency, but you still need serious assistance, call the non-emergency line of SFPD and program it into your phone. It's a good idea to look up the number to your local district station and program that into your phone, too.
SFPD Non-emergency 415-553-0123
Tues. Noon Siren: If you hear a loud, outdoor air siren at noon on Tuesday, you're hearing the city testing the Emergency Broadcast System. You may also be able to hear instructions.
Be prepared. Take First Aid and CPR. Know where to go and have a plan to meet up with friends and family. Have communication plan in case there is no cell or web access. Visit 72hours.org to see what you need for your go-bag and make plans to survive through 72 hours after an emergency. Get NERT (Neighborhood Emergency Response Team) trained for free from the SF Fire Department.
Safety Tips
Just a few safety tips for newcomers or travelers that work pretty much anywhere. In my opinion, most all of San Francisco is safe in the day time. There are just a few places I wouldn't walk by myself at night.
In general:
Be aware, especially at night. There are some bad elements that target people with certain expensive gadgets. Don't be distracted by your phone or loud music to the point of not noticing who is around you.
Keep your purses and bags in sight and closed, and it's not a good idea to keep valuables in your back pockets, especially on public transportation or at bars, clubs, or restaurants.
If you really like your coat or jacket, spend a few dollars and plan to use coat check at the bar or club or you may not find your jacket in that "really safe place" behind the speakers/bench/sign.
Don't ever leave valuables in sight in your car, or you might find a broken window when you return, and don't underestimate what thieves might find valuable. If it's really valuable like a laptop or camera, take it with you. The trunk might not be as safe as you think.
General Info
211 Bay Area
Don't know where to go or who to call for help? Go to this site or call 211. Free. Confidential. Multilingual. Available 24/7.
311 San Francisco
Go to this site or call 311 for help or information about City of San Francisco government department and services.
Free Print Shop
Pages you can print or download of free services in San Francisco like food, pantries, medical services, shelter, mental health, and fixing stuff in English and Spanish.
Dump, Recycle, or Compost Almost Anything
If you can't figure out where to get rid of something like a computer monitor, household toxics, or an old sofa, look here.
Food
San Francisco Food Bank
Individuals can't get food directly from the SFFB, but they list where you can get it. Also a great place to drop in and volunteer or if you're from a non-profit, you can apply to shop here for your your clients.
San Francisco Garden Resource Organization
Find out where your closest community garden is.
San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market
If you're having an event where you need quantities by the case, you can buy at wholesale prices to the public here.
Farmers Markets:
Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture
Ferry Building Farmers' Market
Pacific Coast Farmers' Market
8 Farmers' Markets in San Francisco
Heart of the City Farmers' Market
Farmers' Market at Civic Center Plaza
Alemany Farmers' Market
Open every Saturday from dawn to dusk
Shelter
Besides motels, hotels (of which there are places with weekly and monthly rentals, but be careful, some are sketchy!), hostels, and Craigslist, try the following. Buildings or hostels might give you a free room or apartment if you volunteer as a building manager.
Couchsurfing.org
A site dedicated to sharing free places to stay. Bear in mind there is an application process and a membership fee, so it is not an immediate solution.
AirBnB
Find a private couch, room, apartment, or whole house to rent by the day or longer.
Peer-to-Peer Lending/Borrowing/Services:
Cars: Relay Rides
Borrow a car with an easy application process. Use promo code Borrow1 for $25 free driving. Lend your car and make money with free installation of equipment. Use promo code Own1.
Tools, Sports Equipment, etc.: Rentalic
Rent your stuff or borrow someone else's stuff like a kayak, drill, or tent.
Errands/Chores/Gigs: TaskRabbit.com
Post one-time or recurring errands, chores, or gigs like a grocery run if you're sick or picking up items at Ikea and delivering that local TaskRabbits will do for you. You can pay through the site. Click here for $10 off your first completed task. TaskRabbits may or may not be looking for new Runners/Rabbits (independent contractors - not TaskRabbit employees).
Health/Fitness
Besides SF General and the endless beautiful parks and open spaces in San Francisco to take a walk or bike outside, here are some alternatives. Don't forget a lot of gyms have free trial memberships or day passes. There also many places to get free condoms and confidential oral rapid HIV testing.
Lyon-Martin Health Services
Health services provided to women and transgender folks regardless of ability to pay.
Circle Community Acupuncture
Sliding scale acupuncture: $15-35 per treatment + $10 for intake visit/paperwork processing. Find someone with a Friend card for a free first treatment ($10 intake fee still required).
City of San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department
Hamilton Recreation Center and Pool
An inexpensive indoor public pool (with waterslides!) and a small exercise room with weights and a treadmill
Free CPR Class
Sports Basement offers regular free CPR classes
Sliding Scale Yoga
Yoga to the People - Suggested donation $10, but as it says on their website, "Nobody will be keeping track of individual donations."
Furnish
Check out the free section of Craigslist. I don't encourage dumping stuff on the sidewalk, but the end of the month is often a good time for spotting freegan furniture. Residents are entitled to a free pickup by DPW, but I can't help it if other folks do it.
Freecycle San Francisco
A Yahoo group dedicated to giving listings of stuff being given away for free; however, they must be picky about who they let in because I wasn't approved to join the group. Maybe you'll be more successful.
Really Really Free Market
A monthly event where you can bring your stuff or skills to give away for free.
Free house paint!
SF Environment processes and recycles paint and anyone can get it free.
Love:
Ok, so now you have food and shelter. How about some love? Whether it's making new friends and building your community or intentional family or finding a life partner or partners, you want to meet people that will save your booty when it needs to be saved. Contrary to popular belief, city folk have spiritual lives, too, so there's churches, but you can volunteer, take a class, hang out at a cafe/bar/dog park, speed date, look on Craigslist, go to a professional networking event and so on.
OK Cupid
Free site with full of socially web savvy real city dwellers. Answer questions and take quizzes for better results. Beware of overtly sexual IMers and fake profiles leading to "pro" sites. And remember, safety is sexy: don't give away too much personal info and meet in public place for your first date.
Public Transport
www.511.org
Plan trips via public bus, BART, walking or check on traffic. Call 511 on your phone to find out bus arrival times or figure out how to get to your destination.
Nextmuni
When is the next Muni bus or train coming? Also, always take a free transfer on Muni as your proof of purchase in case the fare police get on your bus.
Nextbus
When is the next bus coming? Maybe it's in your town.
Arts and Entertainment
There are lots of open studios, art walks, gallery openings, monthly/neighborhood free days, free walking tours, street fairs, pay what you can days, half-price/rush tickets, free preview days and all kinds of fun things going on every day of the year. Another way to get into events free is to volunteer or usher. Just check with the organization running the event.
SF Station
Comprehensive site of all kinds of events. Enter the contests!
SFist
Events for hipsters and non.
Broke Ass Stuart San Francisco
Stuff to do if you're broke. One of the original broke blogs.
Pulsd San Francisco
Daily free and cheap deals
Art Supplies:
Scrounger's Center for Reusable Art Parts (SCRAP)
Need basic art supplies, office supplies, or scraps for your classroom to assemble into something awesome and beautiful? Bring cash or a check to this huge warehouse full of fabric, buttons, paper, and crayons and spend less than you would ever think to make your thingy. Some stuff near the front of the store is FREE! A non-profit.
Building REsources
More meant for stuff to repair or build something at your house, apartment, or business, but stuff to make your robot or huge sculpture can be found here like funny pieces of metal, doors, toilets, and so on. A non-profit.
Classes:
You can always try Rec and Parks or City College, but there other cool places like the ones listed below.
Craft Haven Collective
Sewing and craft classes taught out of a studio usually used to teach young folks sewing skills to make money to support themselves and their families.
Reading Material:
You can find all kinds of free newspapers like The Examiner, SF Weekly, and SF Bay Guardian (look for local restaurant coupons) and of course there is the library both the SF Public and some college libraries, but some bookstores like Green Apple Books that buy used books have free boxes outside, but please make sure you don't take their books for sale! You don't need a Kindle
to read books from Amazon. You can install Kindle software for free on a different device like your phone or laptop and have access to a huge library of copyright free books.Volunteer
Give back to San Francisco citizens with your time and skills.
The Volunteer Center
A clearing house for local volunteer opportunities
Volunteering for the City and Beyond
Volunteer for city departments and other local organizations
Project 20: Work off your SF parking tickets!
Pay an admin fee, and work off parking tickets. There are lots of different non-profits in the city that will sign off on your hours for volunteering with them besides city agencies.
WHO Mentors
Register to get announcements about one-time volunteers needed often for large events that might otherwise have a high admission fee.
Legal:
Dollar-a-minute Face-to-Face Attorney: www.womensbuilding.org/content/index.php/events
Anyone is welcome to see Annie. Make an appointment if you can. From the site: "Annie Thorkelson, Attorney at Law, will offer one dollar per minute legal advice and referrals every Wednesday from 4:30-6:30 pm."
Books (find at the library) and free info written for Non-Lawyers whether you have dispute with your neighbor or want to start a business:
Nolo.com
Learn:
Obviously there are classes at San Francisco State University and at Parks and Rec, but non-credit courses at City College are free.
Open Courseware
Find course materials online from the world's top universities like MIT and study from your place in San Francisco in your pajamas.
Miscellaneous Resources
Software:
Ubuntu
A free operating system in case you don't want to use software from that one company based in Washington. I've heard it can be installed on a computer that you might think is basically dead because it's old or slow or full of viruses, and you can have back a computer that runs well and fast enough to serve your needs.
Open Office
So you decided not to buy that other Office set of programs for your netbook, or you got rid of it, or can't find your discs and you need a word processing program or a spreadsheet program. Get this free software.
Yelp
Reviews of local businesses from customers. If you want to see my reviews, click here.
Grants (FREE money):
Besides some of the places already listed here to make extra cash besides employment and there's always taking your used clothes, books, music, DVDs, and sports equipment to the various Buy-Sell-Trade places or pawn shops in town, there might be somebody who will give you or your organization (community garden? rock band?) free money for your project. You might even try crowdsourcing sites like IndieGoGo or Kickstarter.
Foundation Center San Francisco
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