The City will fund new housing at The Abigail and The Post Hotels, including permanent supportive housing
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Mayor London N. Breed on Tuesday, January 7 announced the City will open 151 units of housing for homeless and formerly homeless adults at The Abigail Hotel and The Post Hotel. Following the announcement, Mayor Breed toured The Abigail Hotel, which is undergoing renovations and will open this spring. The City will provide funding to the Tenderloin Housing Clinic and Episcopal Community Services to lease the 62-unit Abigail Hotel and the 89-unit Post Hotel, respectively. These new units are part of Mayor Breed’s efforts to open more than 450 additional units of Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) by the end of 2020.
“Shelter is an important part of our homeless response system and is essential for meeting the immediate needs of our neighbors in crisis, but housing is the solution to homelessness,” said Mayor Breed. “These new homes not only provide permanent housing for formerly homeless people, they also open up more spaces in our shelter system for people who are currently living on the streets. Addressing this crisis requires more housing at all types, and these 151 homes will make an important difference for those who are ready to start the next chapter in their lives.”
“The journeys each of the people we helped out of homelessness 2019 give us hope as we begin the New Year,” said Jeff Kositsky, Director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. “I’m excited that 2020 begins with a more coordinated, data-driven Homelessness Response System paired with more housing exits created through the courageous leadership of Mayor Breed and the compassion and hard work of our team, partners, and community.”
Permanent Supportive Housing provides long-term affordable housing with on-site social services to people exiting chronic homelessness. Currently, over 10,800 people live in the City’s PSH. Last year, Mayor Breed allocated $7.6 million in Educational Revenue Augmentation Funds to support the master leasing of 300 new units of PSH.
The Abigail Hotel is a vacant 62-unit updated Single Room Occupancy Hotel in the Civic Center area. All rooms in The Abigail have a private bathroom and the building includes a spacious lobby and dining facility on the first floor. Tenderloin Housing Clinic will manage The Abigail for residents of PSH who no longer need supportive services and can live independently. The units they vacate then become available to persons leaving shelters and the streets.
“The Tenderloin Housing Clinic began assisting Abigail Hotel tenants in 1980, when a new owner sought to illegally evict them and illegally convert to a 100% tourist hotel,” Randy Shaw, Executive Director, Tenderloin Housing Clinic (THC). “This makes our leasing of the hotel for supportive housing particularly meaningful for THC and the legacy of Tenderloin activism.”
The Post Hotel is an SRO building in the Union Square area with 89 units, 65 of which will be available immediately once the building is ready for occupancy. Eligibility for the PSH units is determined by the City’s Coordinated Entry prioritization process, which is based on vulnerability, length of homelessness, and barriers to housing.
“Permanent supportive housing is a proven solution to ending homelessness for our most vulnerable neighbors. The opening of the Post Hotel will provide us with 89 solutions, moving us closer toward our collective goal of ending chronic homelessness in San Francisco,” said Beth Stokes, Executive Director of Episcopal Community Services.
In 2017, Tipping Point Community launched its Chronic Homelessness Initiative to partner with the City to reduce chronic homelessness by 50% in five years. Tipping Point has worked closely with the City to deploy philanthropic dollars in support of the most effective and promising homelessness reduction strategies. Tipping Point is providing over $3 million to the City’s provider partners for a wide range of needs for the 300 master leased units, including apartment repairs and new furniture. The flexible funding provided allows the City to move forward knowing that these costs are covered, and that its resources will go to more fixed, long-term costs like supportive services and ongoing rental subsidies.
Daniel Lurie, Chairman of the Board of Tipping Point Community stated, “Homelessness is a complex challenge that requires the public, private, and philanthropic sectors to effectively address this crisis by creating the solutions necessary to meet the challenge. Public-private partnerships like this one demonstrate how we can better work together toward our common goal of reducing homelessness and making San Francisco a healthier, more vibrant city for everyone.”
Every night, the City provides shelter and housing to over 13,400 homeless and formerly homeless people across the community. This includes over 3,400 temporary shelter beds, and over 10,000 people in PSH. To expand this effort, Mayor Breed announced a goal to open 1,000 new shelter beds by the end of 2020. Since that announcement in October 2018, the City has opened 566 beds, currently has 24 beds under construction, and has announced 200 beds in the Bayview and has proposed 75 beds in a Navigation Center for Transitional Age Youth at 888 Post Street.
