FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, November 12, 2018
Contact: Mayor’s Office of Communications, 415-554-6131

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MAYOR LONDON BREED ANNOUNCES A 34% REDUCTION IN TENTS SINCE TAKING OFFICE

With the opening of two new navigation centers, efforts continue to move individuals off the street and into stable living conditions

San Francisco, CA— Mayor London N. Breed announced a 34% reduction in tents on the streets of San Francisco since she took office in July, a reduction of approximately 193 tents in less than four months.

Mayor Breed also celebrated the opening of the Bayshore Boulevard Navigation Center this past week, which will serve 128 people, and announced another new Navigation Center at 5^th and Bryant streets that will open in December and serve 85 people.

Since being elected, the Mayor has increased funding for housing, expanded shelters, and increased available resources for people suffering from mental illness. Additionally, she has expanded the resources for Healthy Streets Operations Center (HSOC), which has led the City’s coordinated response to assist and support unsheltered persons. HSOC is working to help those individuals out of tents and into shelter as well as supporting those suffering from behavioral health issues, such as mental illness and drug addiction, by connecting them to services.

“Our coordinated outreach and response efforts, coupled with our targeted investments, have reduced long term tent encampments and helped connect our homeless population with care and shelter,” said Mayor Breed. “One of my highest priorities upon taking office has been to make our streets clean and healthy, and moving people out of tents and into shelters that make our neighborhoods safer for all. There is still plenty of work to be done, but our approach is working. We will continue our efforts to ensure that encampments do not return and we connect people with the help they need.”

San Francisco continues to make investments to support efforts to help people out of tents and into stable living conditions. This year, the City has added roughly 140 available beds in Navigation Centers, 20 family shelter beds, 40 medical respite and sobering beds, and 54 new psychiatric beds.

Mayor Breed worked to ensure $60 million in new funding for critical homelessness service programs over the next two years in the budget she signed in August. This includes funds to create 430 new permanent supportive housing units, $4.4 million to fund the operation of a new Navigation Center for Transitional Age Youth, and $2 million to create two new access points to connect families and residents struggling with homelessness to support and services. To quickly help those who have fallen into homelessness, $12 million is also allocated to rapid re-housing programs.

“Under the leadership and direction of Mayor Breed, departments are collaborating better than they ever have before,” said Jeff Kositsky, Director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. “The recent reduction in tents is due to this renewed sense of partnership, purpose and accountability in our City government.”

The budget of Homeward Bound, a program that unites those living on the streets with family members, has also doubled this year. As of the end of September, 189 people had returned to stable living conditions through Homeward Bound this year. Additionally, the San Francisco Fire Department has increased medical response team to rapidly respond to medical calls in the Tenderloin and Civic Center, and the City’s Street Medicine Team has added an additional 10 new clinicians.

“Our Department’s partnership and collaborative approach with the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing and the Department of Public Health has enabled officers to engage with those in need,” said Commander David Lazar of the San Francisco Police Department, who oversees the Department’s role at HSOC. “As a result, individuals are connected with services such as a stay at the Navigation Center, placed into temporary housing, and/or provided with necessary treatment. We will continue to do our work by helping people and leading with services.”