Mayor Lee Announces New Housing for Chronically Homeless Veterans

New supportive housing buildings will provide essential housing opportunities for chronically homeless veterans and will move San Francisco closer to ending chronic homelessness for veterans

Mayor Edwin M. Lee and Jeff Kositsky, Director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) announced today the City’s plan to end chronic homelessness for veterans in San Francisco.
“No one who has served our country should be homeless in our City and these 75 new units will bring us one step closer to eradicating this situation,” said Mayor Lee. “Over the last two years we have housed over 700 chronically homeless vets and we are committed to continuing this work. Chronic veteran homelessness has no place in San Francisco.”

In 2014 First Lady Michelle Obama challenged cities across the country to end veterans’ homelessness. San Francisco accepted this challenge and has made important progress toward the goal of ending chronic homelessness for veterans, housing over 700 homeless veterans in the last two years. There are approximately 300 more chronically homeless veterans to house in San Francisco.

This fall and winter San Francisco will open 75 new units of supportive housing for veterans. Supportive Housing is a nationally recognized best practice in ending chronic homelessness that combines long term affordability with onsite social services ensuring that residents can maintain their housing and improve their health. The additional 75 units of supportive housing will cut the number of homeless vets living on our streets and shelters to 225.

“By making important improvements to our system, prioritizing housing placements for highly vulnerable veterans, and with the continued support and commitment of all local and federal partners, I am confident that San Francisco can end chronic homelessness for veterans,” said Kositsky.

The Crown Hotel at 528 Valencia Street opened on October 27th with 50 new units of supportive housing, 30 of which will house veterans. The Winton hotel at 445 O’Farrell Street is slated to open this fall and will include 104 new units, including 45 units for veterans. The Crown Hotel and the Winton Hotel will be managed by the Tenderloin Housing Clinic (THC).

“The Tenderloin Housing Clinic is excited to partner with the Department of Homelessness and Supportive housing on these supportive housing buildings. Together we’re making great strides in ending chronic homelessness for veterans and can’t wait to welcome the vets to their new homes in the very popular 16th and Valencia Street neighborhood, the improving Mid-Market, and less than a block from the Hilton in an exciting part of the Tenderloin,” said Randy Shaw, Executive Director of the Tenderloin Housing Clinic.

One of our most successful measures to house chronically homeless veterans in our community was the opening of 250 Kearny Street, a supportive housing project that houses 126 chronically homeless individuals with a combination of federal and local resources. We are replicating the success of 250 Kearny this fall and winter at the new sites that will open: the Crown, and the Winton.

These projects demonstrate our ability to house homeless veterans in the community. By leveraging federal housing programs like HUD-VASH and Shelter Plus Care together with local resources we can provide the long term affordable housing and support services that veterans need to exit homelessness and thrive.

Ending chronic homelessness for veterans will require a community wide effort that calls on private landlords and management companies, nonprofit organizations, and local and federal government to come together to put the needs of highly vulnerable veterans at the forefront of our work. Our recent success is due to our strong partnerships with the San Francisco Housing Authority, the US Department of Veterans Affairs, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, and our City’s talented service providers.

On November 17 the Homes for Heroes collaborative will be hosting a landlord engagement event at City Hall to recruit private landlords to join the fight to end chronic veteran homelessness. The Homes for Heroes collaborative includes the City, the US Department of Veterans Affairs, the San Francisco Housing Authority and local nonprofit partners. To learn more and to rsvp please visit: http://bit.ly/landlordengagement

###

About the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing: The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) aims to prevent homelessness when possible and end homelessness for people experiencing homelessness through the provision of coordinated, compassionate and high-quality services. Established in 2016, HSH consolidates and coordinates citywide homeless serving programs and contracts.

About Tenderloin Housing Clinic: The Tenderloin Housing Clinic’s mission is to prevent tenant displacement, preserve and expand the City’s low cost housing stock and to provide comprehensive legal assistance to low income tenants. The Clinic is successful in fulfilling this mission by providing free legal services, securing SRO units through the Master Lease program and offering comprehensive support services to our clients.

Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing Announcement: Kerry Abbott Hired as Deputy Director of Programs

Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing Announcement:
Kerry Abbott Hired as Deputy Director of Programs

On November 1, 2016 Kerry Abbott will join the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) as the Deputy Director for Programs. Kerry will fill the position being vacated by the retirement of Joyce Crum, the current Deputy Director for Programs.

Kerry has been involved with the development and implementation of affordable housing and services throughout her career. She is a thought leader in the movement to end homelessness and has supported numerous organizations and municipalities in strengthening their health and homeless response systems. As the founder and principle of Abbott Consulting she has assisted agencies providing housing, health care, and supportive services to formerly homeless people and other special needs populations. She is deeply familiar with the work of nonprofit developers, government agencies, and service providers.

Before launching her consulting practice, Kerry spent more than fifteen years in non-profit executive management, working with supportive and affordable housing providers and social service and advocacy organizations. She served as Deputy Director of the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, Executive Director of City Housing, Inc., and Program Director at the General Assistance Advocacy Project. At THC she oversaw the property management, support services, money management, human resources, and financial functions of the organization.

In her role as Deputy Director for Programs Kerry will be responsible for overseeing all housing and supportive service programs under HSH. She and her team will be responsible for implementing many components of HSH’s strategic framework including the shelter system, supportive housing programs, rapid re-housing, homelessness prevention, and encampment resolution.

HSH is thrilled to welcome Kerry Abbott to the team and to the City family.

For Too Many, Homelessness Begins with Racism

San Francisco Chronicle
October 11, 2016
By Jeff Kositsky and Marc Dones

A 2011 study found African Americans are more likely than whites to become homeless. Photo: Leah Millis, The Chronicle Photo: Leah Millis, The Chronicle A 2011 study found African Americans are more likely than whites to become homeless.

Homelessness — and how best to end it — has been a topic of conversation over the past several years at the state, federal and community levels around the country. However, what we do not say often enough or loudly enough is that racism and homelessness are inextricably linked. Yes, racism. It’s time to speak the truth. It’s time to call it what it is.

More than 40 percent of people using shelter in the United States each year are African American, nearly three times their portion of the general population. A 2011 study by George Carter from the Census Bureau found that even when controlling for poverty, African Americans are dramatically more likely than whites to become homeless. Additionally, there is some evidence that they stay homeless longer. The only other racial group that comes close to these rates of homelessness is Native Americans.

The situation in San Francisco is similar; African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans are overrepresented among those who experience homelessness. According to the 2015 San Francisco Homeless Point-in-Time Count, African Americans make up only 7 percent of the general population, but are approximately 36 percent of people who are homeless.

There is a deep and abiding problem within the reality of American homelessness that points unequivocally to racial injustice. For adults, the systemic exclusion of people of color from the housing market through redlining tactics meant they were largely excluded from home ownership until roughly 1970 — after the passage and partial implementation of the Fair Housing Act.

As we discuss the possibility of ending homelessness in San Francisco and in the United States, we must understand that without a simultaneous conversation about race, we would be disingenuous at best and self-sabotaging at worst. We cannot hope to make progress on a problem that is the result of racial inequity without engaging with how racism shapes our present.

If homelessness reflects the continued failure of our social systems to serve people equally in housing, education, health care and criminal justice, then the necessary question has to be: How can we, as a society, transform these systems? We believe that this question is vital and cannot be answered in a vacuum. We must come together and agree to do the difficult and necessary work of understanding our nation’s history and identifying what we must do to move forward.

San Francisco has nationally recognized homeless programs such as Direct Access to Housing, Project Homeless Connect, rapid re-housing, and Navigation Centers that have their roots here. Since 2004, more than 23,000 people have ended their homelessness with assistance from the city and service-provider partners. The San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing and many partners are working hard to address the immediate and growing problem of homelessness. However, we need to look at issues such as housing policies, education and racial injustice if we are to permanently end homelessness.

Jeff Kositsky is the director of the San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. Marc Dones is an associate for equity initiatives and diversity at the Center for Social Innovation in Needham, Mass.

To learn more
The San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, in partnership with the Center for Social Innovation, Hamilton Families, Project Homeless Connect, and HandUp.org., are hosting a series of events and trainings. The first community conversation is:

When: 6 p.m., Monday, Oct. 17 (Doors open at 5:30 p.m.)
Where: Herbst Theater, 401 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco
For details: http://bit.ly/2e77det

Mayor Lee Announces Key Approvals for the Creation of a New Navigation Center To Serve Homeless Residents

* PRESS RELEASE *

MAYOR LEE ANNOUNCES KEY APPROVALS FOR THE CREATION OF A NEW NAVIGATION CENTER TO SERVE HOMELESS RESIDENTS

San Francisco Port Commissioners and Dogpatch Neighbors Express Support for the Navigation Center that will Provide Shelter & Services to City’s Most Vulnerable

Click here for the full press release.

Mayor Lee Opens Second Navigation Center at Civic Center Hotel

MAYOR LEE OPENS SECOND NAVIGATION CENTER AT CIVIC CENTER HOTEL

New Navigation Center Provides More Support & Safety for Homeless Residents Living on Streets

San Francisco, CA— Mayor Edwin M. Lee today announced the opening of the second Navigation Center located at the Civic Center Hotel at 20 12^th Street. The Navigation Center is part of Mayor Lee’s pioneering approach to help homeless people reconnect with loved ones at home, move off the streets and into stable housing or residential treatment programs and get access to the services they need to stabilize their lives. Click here for the full press release.