Homelessness in San Francisco

BOMA San Francisco's Government Affairs Policy Advisory Committee (GAPAC) welcomed a panel from various City and County of San Francisco departments recently.  The purpose of the meeting was to help our industry understand how they are helping those who are, unfortunately, without a home in San Francisco

The panelists were:

Joyce Crum, Director, Housing and Homeless Division, Human Services Agency

Lt. Michael Nevin, SFPD

Sam Dodge, Director of Housing Opportunity, Partnerships and Engagement (HOPE), Mayor Ed Lee’s Office
Brenda Meskan, San Francisco Department of Public Health, Director San Francisco Homeless Outreach Team

The information exchange was excellent and our members felt that San Francisco is working diligently to address the homelessness issue in The City. Based on this meeting, BOMA's GAPAC members have elected to research the resources available in San Francisco to help BOMA members regarding homelessness matters.We'll post that data in a separate blog post once it has been completed.

Key takeaways from the gathering:

• Some are homeless due to their economic situation; some are there because of mental health.
• 13 years of lifetime homelessness = chronic homeless in San Francisco. About 250 people are on this list.
• Issuing tickets/warrants for quality of life issues doesn’t solve homelessness.
• San Francisco: there is 6700 homeless, 3,500 unsheltered, and 1,300 beds.

Click here for a presentation from Brenda Meskan, San Francisco Department of Public Health, Director San Francisco Homeless Outreach Team, that provides detailed information about her Department's efforts.