Junchang Tan washes his daughter Winnie Tan’s, 8, hair in their SRO in Chinatown in San Francisco, California on Monday, April 11, 2022. Winnie’s parents don’t let her shower in the shared showers of their SRO so he washes her hair for her regularly. She loves the time they get together and the head rubs.
For most of her life until this past spring, 9-year-old Winnie Tan, (named after Disney character Winnie-the-Pooh,) lived with her parents and older brother in an apartment in Chinatown — one of hundreds of families in the neighborhood’s single-room-occupancy units, known as SROs. Their SRO was under 200 square feet but they managed to squeeze in all of the essentials. Winnie's happy place was the twin-sized bed that she shared with her 16-year-old brother William. It was there that she ate snacks, played on the computer, got her hair washed by her father, and brushed her teeth. When Winnie and her family were selected to be part of the federal Emergency Housing Voucher Program to move out of the SRO and into a home she was nervous. She said, "I feel sad because I'm gonna leave and this place has all of my childhood memories." She was worried about being alone in a large home and having to grow up fast. Her parents and brother would be "so far away," she said and she was used to having them at an arms length. But Winnie’s father, Junchang Tan, who works as a janitor at a hospital, said the conditions in the SRO were far too crowded and the air quality was poor. He was ready to move into a three-bedroom house in San Francisco’s Sunset District by the ocean. In a city with such scarce housing, this was a feat. Finally, he thought, Winnie could have her own space.
Winnie Tan, 8, grabs her backpack as she gets ready to go to school in San Francisco, California on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Winnie lives in a SRO apartment that is under 200 square feet and sleeps on a twin bed with her older brother. Despite the crammed space Winnie loves her home
Winnie Tan, 8, (center), her brother William Tan (left) her mom Qianlan Li and father Junchang Tan eat dinner around a small table in their SRO in San Francisco, California on Wednesday, April 20, 2022.
Garments hang in the Tan’s SRO in San Francisco, California on Tuesday, April 19, 2022.
Winnie Tan, 8, brushes her teeth while getting ready for school as her parents Junchang Tan (right) and Qianyan Li (center) prepare breakfast in their SRO in San Francisco, California on Tuesday, April 19, 2022.
Winnie Tan, 8, and her brother William Tan, 16, sleep in the early morning at their SRO in Chinatown in San Francisco, California on Sunday, April 24, 2022. A main reason the Tan’s moved is because they wanted Winnie to have her own bed as she grows older. Winnie says, "I feel sad because I'm gonna leave and this place has all of my childhood memories." She was worried about being alone in a large home and having to grow up fast. Her parents and brother would be "so far away," she said and she was used to having them at an arms length.
William Tan (bottom) and father Junchang Tan organize their belongings in their SRO in San Francisco, California on Wednesday, April 20, 2022.
Winnie Tan’s father Junchang Tan (right) heads to work as his wife Qianyan Li (left) does dishes in their SRO in San Francisco, California on Tuesday, April 19, 2022.
The SRO the Tan family lives in in the Chinatown area of San Francisco, California on Wednesday, April 20, 2022. The crowded building allows them very little space to live.
Junchang Tan unloads the first boxes from their SRO in Chinatown to their new three-bedroom home by the ocean in San Francisco, California on Sunday, April 24, 2022. Jungchang doesn't have a car so he moved most of their belongings by public bus.
Winnie Tan, 9, (left), her brother William Tan, 16, (center), her father Junchang Tan (right), and her mom Qianlan Li eat dinner around their new dining room table in their home in San Francisco, California on Saturday, July 2, 2022.
Winnie Tan, 8, relaxes on her bed in her new home in San Francisco, California on Saturday, May 7, 2022. Winnie said she was scared to be so far from her parents in her new home. It was the first time in her life she had a bed she didn’t have to share.