MAYOR LEE, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELESSNESS AND SUPPORTIVE HOUSING, EPISCOPAL COMMUNITY SERVICES AND SAN FRANCISCO INTERFAITH COUNCIL ANNOUNCE EMERGENCY WINTER SHELTER SCHEDULE
Winter Shelter Program increases City shelter capacity just in time to meet increased demand from the most vulnerable San Franciscans when the weather gets colder and wetter.
San Francisco, CA— Mayor Edwin M. Lee and Jeff Kositsky, Director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive housing and the San Francisco Interfaith Council announced the schedule for the Emergency Winter Shelter Program and shelter site locations. The City’s Emergency Winter Shelter Program will run from Sunday, November 20, 2016 through Saturday, February 25 2017.
“Every San Franciscan deserves a good meal and a warm bed,” said Mayor Lee. “This winter, thanks to our long-standing partnership with the San Francisco Interfaith Council and Episcopal Community Services, we can once again offer additional shelter from the winter weather to those living on our streets.”
Winter Shelter Program spaces are reserved on a first come, first served basis each Sunday. The reservation ticket will allow the guest a seven-night stay. Two meals will be served to shelter guests each night. Those interested in a sleeping space on November 20, can go to St. Boniface Church, 133 Golden Gate Avenue, at 5:30PM, 30 minutes prior to the opening of the Winter Shelter program to receive a ticket. Please note these spaces are not reserved through the regular adult emergency shelter reservation system.
“San Francisco values are best expressed when we come together to labor for the common good,” noted Michael Pappas, Executive Director of the San Francisco Interfaith Council. “As we enter our 28th year of hosting the Interfaith Winter Shelter, we join our partners at Episcopal Community Services and the SF Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing in thanking the Night Ministry, our host congregations St. Boniface Church, St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption and the First Unitarian Universalist Society of SF, along with the forty congregations who prepare and serve meals, for doing their part to provide for the essential needs of our City’s most vulnerable residents during this cold and rainy season.”
Now in its 28th year, the City and Episcopal Community Services (ECS) have collaborated with the San Francisco Interfaith Council to provide additional shelter services to homeless San Franciscans during the winter months. ECS is funded by the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) to provide the operational staff that sets up, manages and takes down the shelter every day in the host churches. The Interfaith Council works to identify the four host churches where the overnight shelter is located and to identify the church groups, congregations and community groups that sign up to provide the evening meals throughout the program. “As we work with renewed energy toward creating solutions to homelessness,” said Ken Reggio, Executive Director of Episcopal Community Services, “the Winter Shelter Program, with its intensive and very personal volunteer participation, remains a valued part of our community safety net.”
The Winter Shelter Program increases HSHs sheltering capacity from 5%-8% on any given night throughout the winter, when shelter demand increases with the colder, wetter weather. “Each winter we see an increased demand for shelter as the temperature dips and the nights get longer. Said Jeff Kositsky, “Through this partnership we’re better able to meet that demand and get people off the streets and into places of safety and care.”
The regular adult emergency shelter program will operate in parallel with the Winter Shelter Program. Access information is available on HSH’s website, shelter reservation and resource center sites and by calling 311.
The Women’s Winter Shelter Program at Bethel AME Church was converted to a year-round women’s shelter program operated by the Providence Foundation. This program has been in continuous operation since November 2014 providing 30 beds every night.
For more information about the Winter Shelter Program and HSHs Emergency Shelter Programs please visit: services/shelter-and-transitional-housing-programs/
Winter Shelter Schedule for Single Adult Men:
St. Boniface Church, capacity 60 men
133 Golden Gate Ave
November 20 through December 10
St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, capacity 65 men
1031 Franklin Street
December 11 through December 17
January 15 through February 4
Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption, capacity 100 men
1111 Gough Street
December 18 through January 15
First Unitarian Universalist Society, capacity 70 men
1187 Franklin Street
February 5 through February 25
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About the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing: The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) aims to end homelessness for people experiencing homelessness through the provision of coordinated, compassionate and high-quality services. For more information, visit: http://dhsh.sfgov.org