San Francisco, CA — Mayor London N. Breed today celebrated the opening of the first transitional housing program for transgender and gender nonconforming adults in San Francisco and in the country—Trans Home on Washington Street. Mayor Breed hosted a press conference and conducted a ribbon cutting of the new Trans Home along with St. James Infirmary, the Office of Transgender Initiatives, the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD), Larkin Street Youth Services, TAJA Coalition, community leaders, and City officials.

“Housing affordability and homelessness continue to impact our most marginalized communities, including our trans community members, who are eighteen times more likely to experience homelessness,” said Mayor Breed. “Increasing housing production and ensuring equity across our City is my top priority, which is why I am so proud to open San Francisco’s first Trans Home on Washington Street. This new program will provide trans people with the safety and support they need as they find a permanent home in San Francisco.”

Trans Home, located at 1033 Washington Street, will provide safe and supportive housing, as well as wraparound services, to 13 transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) adults annually. Residents can stay in Trans Home for up to one year, or longer if needed, as they work with housing navigators to obtain permanent housing. Residents have begun moving into the building, which will initially provide housing to eight adults. Once the third-floor units open this spring, the house will serve 13 residents. The three-story building has 13 bedrooms, three kitchens, shared living space, case management and an onsite resident advisor, and space for group workshops and therapy.

The home is part of San Francisco’s new Our Trans Home SF program, which will support low-income TGNC community members find or keep their housing through rental subsidies, housing navigation, and case management. Mayor Breed has prioritized funding the program in the City Budget with $2.3 million over the next two years through MOHCD and the Office of Transgender Initiatives. Our Trans Home SF will provide rental subsidies for at least 55 households.

In September 2019, MOHCD awarded $1.15 million annually for the next two years to St. James Infirmary and Larkin Street Youth Services to implement the new initiative. St. James Infirmary will manage Trans Home on Washington Street, refer eligible applicants to the subsidy program, and provide ongoing housing stability navigation and case management. Larkin Street Youth Services will manage the disbursement of financial assistance of the subsidy program and provide St. James Infirmary with program management support.

This unique and vital program will provide the TGNC community much-needed housing stability. One out of every two transgender San Franciscans have experienced homelessness and TGNC people are 18 times more likely to experience homelessness.

“St. James Infirmary is honored to be the leader in the Our Trans Home SF initiative partnering with Mayor Breed and the community to address the housing crisis that is having a devastating impact on trans people of color across the Bay Area,” said Toni Newman, Executive Director of St. James Infirmary. “As a Black trans-led nonprofit, we are hitting the ground running to provide housing to our community and lead the country in developing solutions for and by our community. We have no time to waste if we are going to address the root issues that are keeping our community in poverty and on the streets. We thank Mayor Breed and the Office of Transgender Initiatives for their support in resourcing our community so we flourish and thrive.”

“Skyrocketing housing and rental markets paired with systemic discrimination has formed an unrelenting barrier between the trans community and housing stability,” said Clair Farley, Director of the Office of Transgender Initiatives. “We know that there are significant barriers to accessing housing programs for trans and gender nonconforming communities. In fact, 70% of transgender people have faced harassment in shelters across the country. That is why this program plays an essential role in addressing San Francisco’s homelessness crisis, and ensures that everyone has a safe place to call home.”

“San Francisco has long been a City that embraces and supports diversity, but our housing shortage makes sustaining that ever more difficult, and the trans community is among the most susceptible to housing insecurity” said MOHCD Acting Director Dan Adams. “We are proud to partner with Saint James Infirmary and Larkin Street Youth Services to manage and operate the new Trans Home, a groundbreaking approach to housing security that ensures our trans community members at risk of homelessness have a place to call home.”

St. James Infirmary is hosting an orientation to the Trans Home SF program, where TGNC community members can learn about the program and enroll on-site. The orientation will take place at 12:00pm on Wednesday, January 29, in the Koret Auditorium of the San Francisco Main Public Library, at 101 Larkin Street. Interested participants should sign up for the orientation here.

For more information on San Francisco’s trans housing efforts, please visit: http://ourtranshomesf.org/

###