In the News
Episcopal Community Services (ECS) operates San Francisco’s Adult Coordinated Entry (ACE) system, the gateway for people experiencing homelessness in the city to be matched with the services they need.
ECS became the lead agency of ACE for the SF Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing in November 2018. This critical system was designed to provide a clear, standardized, citywide system to assess and prioritize the needs of people living on the streets, as well as a streamlined process to connect them to solutions to help them exit homelessness.
ACE is essential to effectively assessing and identifying the most vulnerable individuals and prioritizing them for solutions at Navigation Centers, as well as permanent supportive housing. Since ACE launched in fall of 2018, ECS and its ACE partners have assessed over 6,000 people experiencing homelessness to determine their eligibility for ACE services. The program has helped at least 543 people find housing and another 305 move off the streets and into Navigation Centers.
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By Josh Steinberger, Associate Manager of Problem Solving
Episcopal Community Services’s (ECS) Problem Solvers take an innovative, highly personalized approach to help people experiencing homelessness find creative solutions and pathways to housing. As affordable and supportive housing are available to only a limited number of persons, particularly those with the greatest need, this division of our Adult Coordinated Entry program takes an alternative approach.
Since November 2018 when the program launched, this team of more than a dozen Problem Solvers has worked closely with more than 450 people to provide a fresh look at opportunities in their specific situation to find safe homes. Of the total, 372 people have found housing.
(more…)By Beth Stokes
Executive Director, Episcopal Community Services
Individual Placement and Support (IPS) is an evidence-based practice designed primarily to help people with behavioral health conditions work at regular jobs of their choosing. The model has also evolved to serve others, including transition‐aged youth, veterans, justice‐involved individuals, people receiving public benefits, and, significantly, people experiencing homelessness.
In June, Episcopal Community Services was proud to host a packed discussion on IPS at Google’s office in San Francisco, where nationally recognized experts Rick DeGette and Emery Cowan shared lessons on the process of integrating employment support into homeless systems of care. Speaking to a crowd of homeless service providers from ECS, the City of San Francisco, and other organizations, they reviewed the basic principles of implementing IPS, how those principles have been applied successfully in other counties, states, and organizations, and how this process might be applied for San Francisco’s homeless population.
(more…)By Beth Stokes
Executive Director, Episcopal Community Services
Navigation Centers are a critical tool in the effort to end homelessness in San Francisco. They provide a low-barrier respite from the streets for a highly vulnerable population, in tandem with on-site case management, streamlined access to social services and medical care, and coordinated entry into pathways to permanent housing.
In 2015, Episcopal Community Services of San Francisco (ECS), in partnership with the City of San Francisco, opened the city’s first Navigation Center at 1950 Mission St. and currently manages the Central Waterfront and Bryant Navigation Centers. In addition, ECS provided training and support to 5 Keys, which manages the Bayshore Center.
Navigation Centers have shown strong signs of success in helping people exit homelessness, and they are different from traditional shelters in a number of ways. Navigation Centers have few barriers to entry and provide intensive case management to connect people to the unique care and housing solutions they need. They provide community space and welcome people with partners, pets, and possessions. Clients receive personalized support to help address housing barriers such as a lack of personal identity documents, employment opportunities, or histories of eviction.
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*** PRESS RELEASE***
Join Chef Martin Yan
And “The Foodie Chap” Liam Mayclem
at
Episcopal Community Services
15th Annual CHEFS Gala
on May 2, 2019
Tickets on sale now at chefsgalasf.org.
San Francisco, CA, April 8th, 2019 – Beth Stokes, Executive Director, and the Board of Episcopal Community Services (ECS) of San Francisco, a leader in San Francisco’s plan to create more supportive housing for individuals and families experiencing homelessness, are proud to announce the organization’s 15th annual CHEFS Gala fundraiser on May 2, 2019 from 6:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. at Bespoke, located at 845 Market Street atop Westfield Centre.
We are honored to welcome international television icon, Master Chef, food consultant and prolific cookbook author, Chef Martin as our celebrity emcee. Chef Yan is the recipient of numerous awards and honors from The James Beard Foundation Awards, The Antonin Careme Medal, The American Culinary Federation, and the American Academy of Chefs. We are also pleased to announce Emmy Award-winning radio and TV personality Liam Mayclem as our auctioneer for the evening. Mayclem is best known as the host of Eye on the Bay on CBS 5 and “The Foodie Chap,” celebrating San Francisco Bay Area culinary stars daily on KCBS Radio.
“We are thrilled to partner with high caliber foodies of Chef Martin and Liam Mayclem for this year’s Gala,” says ECS Executive Director Beth Stokes. “Their support of ECS and the people we serve is testimony to the necessity of addressing homelessness in San Francisco.”
CHEFS Gala seeks to raise awareness of ECS’s vital programs, including the marquee CHEFS program. This 10-12 week culinary training program provides people impacted by homelessness and poverty with technical and professional skills through classroom instruction, hands-on kitchen training, and a local food service internship.
“ECS Workforce Development Programs offer a vital component to help homeless individuals find housing through employment. Our CHEFS program offers those interested in the culinary field a roadmap not just towards employment but more importantly a career in the culinary industry,” said Jason Pruett, Director of Workforce Development & Social Enterprise. “Along with the culinary skills attained, CHEFS helps to instill confidence and boost self-esteem in our participants setting them on a path towards a successful future. “
Guests at the event will enjoy tastings and cocktails from a variety of the City’s finest restaurants and from ECS’s own CHEFS program while participating in live and silent auctions. The fundraiser aims to raise awareness about San Franciscans experiencing homelessness and provide funds for housing, services, and job training for the 7,200 people who access ECS’s services annually. The 15th Annual CHEFS Gala looks to build on its momentum from previous years by creating even more opportunities for the very low-income men, women, and children that ECS serves annually.
Many generous Bay Area restaurants, wineries, and breweries are rallying behind ECS and its mission to help homeless San Franciscans. Guests will enjoy bites from top San Francisco restaurants including Sorrel, Octavia, Nopa, Louie’s Gen-Gen Room at Liholiho Yacht Club, Smitten Ice Cream, Boulevard, Delfina, Rooh, and more. Guests will enjoy cocktails provided by Tonic Beverage Catering, as well as libations from Maven, Petrichor Wines, Bonny Doon Vineyard, and Pond Farm Brewing. Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased at chefsgalasf.org.
For more than 35 years, ECS has pushed boundaries through innovative programs such being chosen by the city of San Francisco, in conjunction with Mercy Housing, to build and operate San Francisco’s largest permanent supportive housing development for formerly homeless people near Mission and 7th Streets. The two-building development will provide permanent homes for up to 265 households experiencing chronic homelessness, with 100 new units allocated to formerly homeless seniors, age 62 or older. With prime Mission Street frontage and over 5,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space, the new 7th & Mission development will also be the spectacular new site of ECS’s CHEFS workforce development program and an affiliated foodservice social enterprise. Since it’s founding, over 1,000 formerly homeless and very low-income students have participated in the CHEFS program.
Lead CHEFS Gala sponsors include staunch ECS supporters Bi-Rite Family of Businesses, Cahill Contractors LLC, Caritas Property Management, Heffernan Insurance Brokers, Herman Coliver Locus Architecture, MUFG Union Bank Foundation, Hood & Strong, Keller & Benvenutti LLP, San Francisco Federal Credit Union, Silicon Valley Bank, Sutter Health CPMC, Xantrion and Zendesk.
About Episcopal Community Services of
San Francisco
Episcopal Community Services of San
Francisco (ECS) has provided essential services to homeless and very low-income
San Franciscans since 1982, utilizing a holistic approach that addresses the
multiple causes leading to homelessness. The agency serves more than 7,000
people a year – through emergency shelters, Navigation Centers, 12 permanent
supportive housing sites, adult education, workforce development, and a senior
day center — guided by a mission to help homeless and very low-income people
obtain the housing, shelter, and services each person needs to prevent and end
homelessness. For more information about ECS, visit www.ecs-sf.org.
Tickets: Click here to purchase.
Social Media Assets:
Facebook: Facebook.com/ECSofSF/
Twitter: @ecs_sf #CHEFSGalaSF
Instagram: @ecs_sf
Media Contact:
Jenn Soult
Episcopal Community Services
Communications Manager
415-487-3300 x1249
Jsoult@ecs-sf.org
Episcopal Community Services of San Francisco (ECS) will operate the Bryant Street Navigation Center. In addition to Bryant, ECS also operates the Central Waterfront Navigation Center and previously operated the original Mission Navigation Center prior to its closure in October 2018.
“This Navigation Center is a critical tool in a broader effort to drive systemic change and solve problems of homelessness more effectively on a larger scale,” said Episcopal Community services Executive Director, Beth Stokes. “Navigation Centers provide low-barrier, low-threshold respite from the streets for a highly vulnerable population, in tandem with on-site case management, streamlined access to social services and coordinated entry into housing pathways.”
Perhaps it will not surprise you that 58% of the 7,499 people counted as homeless in San Francisco’s 2017 Homeless Point-in-Time Count are living on the streets, but it’s true. The city has partnered with Episcopal Community Services of San Francisco (ECS) and other agencies to pilot new models to assist this highly vulnerable unsheltered population, many of whom have resisted entering the traditional shelter system for fear of losing their relationships, their pets, or their possessions.
https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2018/10/26/innovating-solutions-to-homelessness.html
The San Francisco Environmental Department shot a short video to highlight their Zero Waste Program at the Global Climate Summit in September. The Zero Waste Program awards grant funding to non-profit organizations whose work helps San Francisco towards zero waste. ECS is an indirect recipient of their efforts through the SF Produce Market, check out their video featuring ECS’s own, Chef Al Leddy.