For most of her life until this past spring, 9-year-old

Winnie Tan 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.

Winnie and her family were selected in 2022 to be part of the federal Emergency Housing Voucher Program, funded by the COVID-19 American Rescue Plan Act, which seeks to provide long-term rental assistance to people at risk of homelessness.

Winnie (center), brother William, and parents Qianyan Li and Junchang Tan eat dinner around a small table in the unit at the Chinatown SRO hotel.

Winnie (center), brother William, and parents Qianyan Li and Junchang Tan eat dinner around a small table in the unit at the Chinatown SRO hotel.

Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

This meant that in May, Winnie’s family moved out of the SRO, where Winnie’s father, Junchang Tan, said conditions were crowded and air quality poor, into a three-bedroom house

in San Francisco’s Sunset District.

Winnie Tan brushes her teeth while getting ready for school as her parents, Junchang Tan (right) and Qianyan Li, prepare breakfast in their cramped room in Chinatown.

Winnie Tan brushes her teeth while getting ready for school as her parents, Junchang Tan (right) and Qianyan Li, prepare breakfast in their cramped room in Chinatown.

Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

The Tans are one of about 900 households

in San Francisco — including about a dozen in Chinatown — benefiting from the vouchers, said Karen Chan, a legislative aide for outgoing San Francisco Supervisor Gordon Mar. Chan previously worked as an organizer for the Chinatown Community Development Center and helped refer the Tan family and other candidates for vouchers. Under the program, residents typically pay 30% of their rent and the government covers the rest.

Garments hang in the Tan’s SRO in San Francisco, California on Tuesday, April 19, 2022.

Garments hang in the Tan’s SRO in San Francisco, California on Tuesday, April 19, 2022.


Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

Winnie Tan’s,8, (not pictured) stuffed animals line the bed that she shares with her older brother in their SRO in San Francisco, California on Wednesday, April 20, 2022.

Winnie Tan’s,8, (not pictured) stuffed animals line the bed that she shares with her older brother in their SRO in San Francisco, California on Wednesday, April 20, 2022.


Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle


Top: Garments hang in the Tan family’s Chinatown SRO unit, which had limited closet space. Conditions were crowded and the air quality was poor, Junchang said. Bottom: Winnie’s stuffed animals line the bed in the room she shared with her older brother, William. Photos by Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

The Tan family lived in a single-room unit in this SRO hotel in Chinatown.

The Tan family lived in a single-room unit in this SRO hotel in Chinatown.

Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

Most other Chinatown residents who got vouchers stayed in or close to Chinatown, but the Tans were unique in moving farther away, Chan said, to have a better environment for Winnie and her brother, William, a high school senior.

Some things have not changed much. Similar to Chinatown, the Tans’ new neighborhood in the Sunset is heavily populated with Chinese and Taiwanese residents, said 52-year-old Tan, who is from Zhongshan, China, and moved to San Francisco in 2011 with his wife, Qianyan Li, Winnie’s mother.

Junchang Tan heads to work as his wife, Qianyan Li, does dishes in the SRO unit the family lived in until this past spring.

Junchang Tan heads to work as his wife, Qianyan Li, does dishes in the SRO unit the family lived in until this past spring.

Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

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.

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.


Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

Winnie Tan, 8, practices piano on her computer at the SRO she lives in with her family in San Francisco, California on Wednesday, April 20, 2022.

Winnie Tan, 8, practices piano on her computer at the SRO she lives in with her family in San Francisco, California on Wednesday, April 20, 2022.


Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle


Top: Winnie and William shared a bed in their Chinatown SRO unit. A main reason the Tans moved was to give Winnie her own bed, but the move made Winnie nervous about having her parents and brother farther away than she was used to, in different rooms. Bottom: Winnie practices piano on her computer in the SRO unit. Photos by Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

Junchang Tan washes Winnie’s hair in their Chinatown single-room-ocupancy hotel. Winnie’s parents didn’t want her to shower in the hotel’s shared bathroom. They continue the practice in their new home, even though they now have their own bathroom.

Junchang Tan washes Winnie’s hair in their Chinatown single-room-ocupancy hotel. Winnie’s parents didn’t want her to shower in the hotel’s shared bathroom. They continue the practice in their new home, even though they now have their own bathroom.

Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

They’ve continued some practices they grew accustomed to in the SRO. There, Tan didn’t feel comfortable letting Winnie use the communal bathroom on their floor, so he would wash her hair in a plastic tub. That has carried over to their new home, even though it has a full bathroom.

Junchang Tan unloads the first boxes from their SRO to their new home in San Francisco, California on Sunday, April 24, 2022.

Junchang Tan unloads the first boxes from their SRO to their new home in San Francisco, California on Sunday, April 24, 2022.


Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

Junchang Tan (right) and cousin Sam Huang (left) look at the Tan’s new home in San Francisco, California on Sunday, April 24, 2022. Junchang was unloading the first boxes from their SRO.

Junchang Tan (right) and cousin Sam Huang (left) look at the Tan’s new home in San Francisco, California on Sunday, April 24, 2022. Junchang was unloading the first boxes from their SRO.


Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle


Top: Junchang Tan unloads boxes from their SRO as they move into their new home in the Sunset District. Bottom: Junchang Tan (right) and cousin Sam Huang look around the family’s new home. Photos by Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

There have been some adjustments, too. Tan’s commute is now considerably longer. He works as a janitor at North East Medical Services, a health clinic in Chinatown. What used to be a quick trip within the neighborhood now takes at least three hours round-trip — one hour by bus in the morning and two to three hours in the evening, depending on wait times.

Winnie Tan and her brother, William, eat dinner with their parents in the roomy kitchen of the Sunset District house.

Winnie Tan and her brother, William, eat dinner with their parents in the roomy kitchen of the Sunset District house.

Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

For Winnie, the move has meant having her own room, bed and desk for the first time, after sharing a bed with her brother her whole life. In the corner of the room is her own stack of snacks: Ferrero Rocher, Hello Panda and packets of dried seaweed.

Winnie has started at a new school, where she’s learning to play the ukulele in her music class. She hasn’t seen her best friend Latifah since the move, but is adept at online friendships — she, Latifah and her new friends from school hang out often on Discord and play “Roblox” and “Genshin Impact.” She and her brother message on Discord even when they’re in rooms next to each other, both enjoying their relatively newfound personal space.

Winnie Tan walks through her room in her new home in the Sunset District in San Francisco.

Winnie Tan walks through her room in her new home in the Sunset District in San Francisco.

Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

Catherine Ho and Claire Hao are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: [email protected], [email protected] Twitter: @cat_ho, @clairehao_