FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, October 4, 2018
Contact: Mayor’s Office of Communications, 415-554-6131

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MAYOR LONDON BREED ANNOUNCES PLAN TO OPEN 1,000 NEW BEDS FOR HOMELESS RESIDENTS
Initiative represents the largest expansion of shelter bed capacity in San Francisco in 30 years

San Francisco, CA — Mayor London N. Breed today announced that San Francisco will open 1,000 new shelter beds for homeless residents, the largest expansion of shelter in the City in 30 years. Mayor Breed plans to have half of the beds open by this coming summer with a goal of having all 1,000 open by 2020.

The beds will become available through a combination of new Navigation Centers and a new type of facility called SAFE Centers, which stands for Shelter and Access For Everyone. SAFE Centers will be larger capacity facilities that incorporate important supportive features from the Navigation Center model. This expansion will meet the temporary shelter bed need as determined by San Francisco’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. 

“We need to push ambitious solutions to give people safe options to sleep inside if we are going to see a difference on our streets,” said Mayor Breed. “Allowing people to spend the night outside without shelter is inhumane and unacceptable. This major expansion of new beds will give us an answer for those who need a place to get off the streets.”

Of the 1,000 new beds, 700 are planned to be available through the development of three SAFE Centers. SAFE Centers will incorporate elements of San Francisco’s Navigation Centers, which allow residents to bring their partners, pets, and belongings with them as well provide support to connect residents with services and permanent housing. SAFE Centers will offer a larger capacity than Navigation Centers, while still maintaining many important features such as being open 24 hours per day, providing case management for residents, and allowing them to bring their partners and possessions.

“Mayor Breed is taking action to help meet the need for shelter in our community,” said Jeff Kositsky, Director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. “We are glad that the City will provide the resources that the data shows are necessary to help more people get off the streets. The Mayor’s data driven decision making will ensure that we invest our resources wisely.”        

SAFE Centers will be less capital-intensive on a per-bed basis than Navigation Centers due to their larger capacity and specific service offerings, allowing the City to take in more homeless residents on a nightly basis. The remaining 300 beds will be created in Navigation Centers that are currently either in the planning or development stage. 

Mayor Breed is working to open the first 500 beds by Summer 2019, with the remaining 500 beds coming by the end of 2020. Funding for these new shelters will come from already allocated funding in the current year’s budget, new funding in the upcoming two-year budget, and a reprioritization of existing funding.

This Fall, the City will open the first two Navigation Centers supporting this effort – Bayshore Navigation Center (128 beds) in the Bayview and Bryant Navigation Center (84 beds) in SOMA.

The City, through the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, currently offers temporary shelter to 2,500 people per night through traditional shelters, stabilization beds, Navigation Centers and transitional housing. The largest component of these beds are the approximately 1,400 traditional emergency shelter beds.

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