In the News
“The SoMa facility located at 226 Sixth St. will offer temporary lodging, along with mental health and job support, to people released from San Francisco jails. Run by Adult Probation, Episcopal Community Services and the Pretrial Diversion Project, the state-funded program will provide up to 30 beds for an initial trial period of one year.”
“ECS stands in solidarity with women everywhere who seek safe access to healthcare, and we are committed to the fight for reproductive justice. We are horrified by today’s Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization to overturn Roe v. Wade, ending nearly a half a century of jurisprudence on the privacy and bodily autonomy of women. Bodily autonomy, including the right to determine if and when to have children and whether to carry a pregnancy to term, is a basic human right.”
Timothy Isaiah experienced homelessness for over 30 years before moving into his new home at 833 Bryant St in November 2021. Timothy is one of 145 formerly homeless tenants that now live in this permanent supportive housing (PSH) site, accompanied by ECS wrap-around service. The units at 833 Bryant, which cost just $385,000 per unit compared to the standard cost of over $600,000 per unit, set an example that when innovation and commitment come together, we can solve one of the most difficult challenges our city faces.
“The plan is to build between 43 and 50 units of “permanent supportive housing” for single adults experiencing homelessness in the county. In addition to housing, the site would feature a range of services including case management, mental health, educational and vocational programs. Episcopal Community Services will own the building, which sits near Corte Madera Creek, and would also serve as the facility’s operator.”
ECS is proud to be a part of a first-of-its kind program in California launched in San Francisco to bring supportive services directly to the homes of formerly homeless San Franciscans. While In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) – as these services are known – has been an integral part of the social services fabric in California for a while, bringing it to residents of permanent supportive housing in a systematic and intentional way is new.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports on the project, noting that city officials believe that the success of strategy will greatly reduce social service costs for the taxpayer and improve health outcomes for supportive housing residents who would most benefit. The Chronicle notes the pilot of this project happening at the Minna Lee, where ECS provides supportive services for some 50 residents. The in-home visits are being conducted by Homebridge, a community partner.
“The County selected ECS, a San Francisco–based nonprofit, to identify, vet and secure up to two potential Project Homekey sites, one of which is the South Eliseo property. “
“Marin County, in partnership with Episcopal Community Services of San Francisco, hopes to win approval from the state to use some of the next round of Project Homekey funds to purchase the property.”
City officials are working with Marin County and Episcopal Community Services on a grant proposal through the state’s Project Homekey program to convert the facility at 1251 S. Eliseo Drive into 43-units of “permanent supportive housing” for single adults experiencing homelessness in the county, according to a joint statement released Tuesday.
In addition to housing, the site would feature a range of services including case management, mental health, educational and vocational programs.
Shireen McSpadden took the helm last month as the director of San Francisco’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. McSpadden is coming to the department at a pivotal time. At last count, the city had more than 8,000 people experiencing homelessness, and experts have predicted that number could grow as a result of pandemic-related job losses.
She’s overseeing a department with a budget that’s grown more than 60% to nearly $672 million. The dramatic increase is a result of newly released funding from Proposition C, a tax on corporate revenues that voters approved in 2018, to fund new housing and services for people experiencing homelessness.
The former executive director of the Department of Disability and Aging Services, McSpadden takes over from Abigail Stewart-Kahn, who served as interim director of the department during the pandemic after former Director Jeff Kositsky stepped down.
On Thursday, McSpadden toured one of San Francisco’s newest permanent supportive housing sites, the Post Hotel, operated by Episcopal Community Services and Caritas Management Corporation. The converted hotel will provide housing for 89 adults and couples, including 18 existing tenants. Residents will pay no more than 30% of their income toward rent.
Read the full article on KQED here
Want to solve America’s urban homeless crisis? First, you have to believe it can be fixed. Anyone who has passed by the seemingly endless rows of hard-worn tents and makeshift shelters scattered under San Francisco’s bridges, beside its freeways, and along its sidewalks has probably struggled to imagine how our nation’s homeless crisis might be solved.
In San Francisco, an estimated 8,000 men, women, and children lack a stable home at any one time. About 2,800 experience chronic, long-term homelessness. And in a city where the cost of living is vastly higher than the national average, a single unit of “supportive” housing — a safe, comfortable place to live accompanied by counseling and other services — can take up to six years to complete and cost taxpayers and/or charities upwards of $600,000.
When it’s finished, the six-story building at 833 Bryant Street (shown here in an artist’s rendering) will be San Francisco’s first 100% affordable modular housing project.
Read the full article in the Stanford Graduate School of Business here.