News Releases
The latest news and announcements from Mayor London N. Breed

MAYOR LONDON BREED ANNOUNCES OPENING OF NEW PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
Contact: Mayor’s Office of Communications, 415-554-6131

 

*** PRESS RELEASE ***

MAYOR LONDON BREED ANNOUNCES OPENING OF NEW PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING
South of Market location will provide homes for 50 chronically homeless individuals

 

San Francisco, CA— Mayor London N. Breed today announced the opening of the Minna Lee, a 50-unit permanent supportive housing building in the South of Market neighborhood for formerly chronically homeless individuals.

The operation of the facility is made possible by $4 million that was included in the two-year budget for the City and County of San Francisco that Mayor Breed signed into law earlier this month.

“It is not enough to just get people indoors; we need to create permanent supportive housing so that we can provide services to address many of the issues that can lead to homelessness in the first place,” said Mayor Breed. “I am making significant investments in expanding affordable and supportive housing because it is not humane to allow people to continue living on our streets.”

The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) is investing $36 million over the next two years to expand the City’s supportive housing stock, enhance services at supportive housing sites, and repair existing sites. These investments are part of a package of enhancements to the HSH budget that now totals $271 million over the next two years. HSH’s enhanced budget will allow the City to house nearly 1,000 additional people, provide shelter for 3,000 more, prevent homelessness for an additional 800 people, and improve access to services for at least 1,000 clients.

San Francisco currently has more than 7,500 units of supportive housing, the most per capita in the United States. HSH has another 1,300 units of supportive housing for adults, families, and youth in the pipeline.

“Supportive housing is critical to our work to reduce homelessness,” said Jeff Kositsky, Director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. “Sites like the Minna Lee provide not only housing for people but the important services that help people stabilize, heal and move forward. Permanent supportive housing effectively ends homelessness for some people with critical service needs who would otherwise stay on our streets.”  

The Minna Lee is a master-leased building that had previously sat vacant for 17 years. It is operated by Episcopal Community Services (ECS) with property management services provided by Delivering Innovation in Supportive Housing (DISH).

“The opening of the Minna Lee has deepened my confidence that homelessness can be overcome in San Francisco. The solutions are available if we dedicate the resources to bring them to scale," said Lauren Hall, Executive Director of DISH. "In a number of weeks, we went from the start of the master lease to full occupancy--bringing 50 San Franciscans home after years on the streets. Along with our partners at ECS, we demonstrated how the increased efficiencies of the coordinated entry system and a barrier free intake process can significantly shorten the path from experiencing homelessness to being welcomed home.”

To date, 48 individuals have moved in to the Minna Lee, with the final two units to be filled by the end of the month. Each unit is furnished with a bed, dresser, sink, microwave, and mini-refrigerator. There is a 24-hour desk clerk with case management and supportive services available Monday through Friday.

“Critical Supportive Housing opportunities like the Minna Lee move forward our collective goal of ending adult chronic homelessness by 2022.” says Beth Stokes, Executive Director of ECS. “Working in partnership with Mayor Breed, the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, and DISH to create new units of housing, with essential housing stabilization services is a proven solution, and one that will get us closer to achieving our shared objectives.”

 

###