San Francisco, CA — Mayor London N. Breed and Supervisor Rafael Mandelman today announced the opening of a new psychiatric respite center in the Mission, providing a much-needed place for people experiencing the combination of homelessness, mental health issues, and substance use disorders to rest and get connected to care.

When fully operational, Hummingbird Valencia will add 30 beds for overnight clients at a time, and up to 20 daytime drop-in clients, where people can stabilize, get connected to social services, and be referred to longer-term treatment and recovery at an array of programs throughout the City.

“Hummingbird Valencia is the result of our City and community partners coming together to provide a solution to the mental health crisis we see on our streets,” said Mayor Breed. “We need to pull together to make our City a more compassionate place where we take care of those in need and get them on a path out of homelessness. I’m grateful to Supervisor Mandelman for his support in bringing this facility to his district.”

The new facility at 1156 Valencia Street is a collaboration between the San Francisco Department of Public Health, PRC/Baker Places, The Salvation Army, and Tipping Point Community. It opened today with a handful of day guests and will expand to a more limited 26 overnight beds by the end of June because of COVID-19 safety protocols.

“I’m proud that District 8 will be home to the first-ever community-based Hummingbird Navigation Center,” said Supervisor Mandelman. “The Valencia location will provide shelter, supportive services, and a path to stability and wellness for unhoused people struggling with mental illness and substance use. These beds represent one more step toward meeting the City’s acute need for exits from the streets, emergency rooms and jail for unhoused people with behavioral health needs. The Hummingbird model is a proven concept that can make a real difference in the crisis on our streets, and we need many more of them.”

The facility’s predecessor, Hummingbird Potrero, has provided similar services since 2017 on the campus of Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. Over the past three years of operations, Hummingbird Potrero successfully served more than 1,000 overnight clients and hosted more than 12,000 day guest visits.

According to the latest Point in Time count in San Francisco from 2019, approximately 8,000 people experience homelessness on any given night. Of these individuals experiencing homelessness, 42% self-report alcohol and drug abuse and 39% report psychiatric and emotional conditions.

The facility supports the City’s efforts to address mental health and homelessness needs through a coordinated network of behavioral health support services. Clients are referred to Hummingbird Valencia from urgent care providers or by street teams including the Homeless Outreach Team (HOT), the City’s new Street Crisis Response Team, the Department of Public Health’s Street Medicine and Comprehensive Crisis Services.

“I’m thrilled to see Hummingbird’s innovative model of care expand to a new location,” said Dr. Grant Colfax, Director of Health. “Hummingbird Valencia provides us with another linkage in a network of programs that are bringing people experiencing a crisis on the streets to a safe place indoors where they can stabilize before taking their next step toward wellness.”

In September 2019, Tipping Point Community announced that it would fund an expansion of Hummingbird beds in San Francisco, including this new location at 1156 Valencia Street. The Salvation Army is providing the property as part of its larger initiative to double its impact on homelessness. Using this site for a behavioral health respite program will continue the mission of The Salvation Army to serve vulnerable people in their communities.

PRC/Baker Places and the Department of Public Health will operate the program. PRC/Baker Places currently operates the existing Hummingbird Place located on the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital campus.

Services at Hummingbird Valencia will include:

• Referral to primary medical and psychiatric community providers
• Coordination of services and discharge planning
• Connection to shelter and housing
• Transportation to medical and social services appointments
• Food, clothing, access to showers, and laundry facilities
• Individual and group counseling to engage in motivational interviewing
• One-on-one peer support
• Daily living skills training
• Referrals to vocational services for assessment of job skills, training, and employment opportunities.

“PRC’s Hummingbird centers are an essential step in San Francisco’s spectrum of behavioral health and substance use services. We provide a proven, cost-effective alternative to Emergency Room care,” said Brett Andrews, CEO of PRC. “PRC is grateful to partner with the Mayor and Supervisor Mandelman, the SF Department of Public Health, and our community partners Tipping Point and the Salvation Army to expand the availability of these critical services to our most vulnerable citizens at a time of such profound need.”

“The Salvation Army is thrilled to work with the Department of Public Health, PRC Baker Places, and Tipping Point to open a Hummingbird site at our Mission neighborhood property,” said Major Darren Norton, Divisional Commander for The Salvation Army, Golden State Division. “In addition to the programming designed by the community agencies, we will be offering optional emotional and spiritual support for clients of the program, as well as a direct pathway into our residential drug and alcohol addiction treatment program at our Harbor Light Center in the SOMA neighborhood. Together we can address the crisis of homelessness in our city.”

“Low-barrier access to care and pathways to permanent housing are essential to reduce the suffering on our streets,” said Andrea Evans, director of Tipping Point Community’s Chronic Homelessness Initiative. “We are grateful that DPH and Mayor London Breed provided an opportunity for philanthropy to play a role in making a second Hummingbird site a reality.” 

San Francisco has several efforts underway to help people experiencing homelessness and behavioral health issues to get off the streets, into housing, and connected with services. In April 2021, Mayor Breed announced the City is moving forward on leasing a location for a new Drug Sobering Center. Last week, Mayor Breed announced a proposal to create a Street Wellness Response Team to improve outcomes for people in need on San Francisco’s streets and advance the City’s efforts to implement alternatives to police responses to non-violent calls. The Street Wellness Response Team will provide an appropriate medical and social service response for people who require immediate assistance but do not have emergent behavioral health care needs. San Francisco’s Street Crisis Response Team, which launched in November 2020, will continue operating to address the needs of people experiencing behavioral health crises.

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