San Francisco Mayor to Increase Homeless Relief

Mayor Ed Lee has announced plans to devote $28.9 million to housing, medical aid, and counseling programs. Nonprofits will partner with the city in an effort to put rising municipal revenue to good use.

1 minute read

May 30, 2015, 11:00 AM PDT

By Philip Rojc @PhilipRojc


San Francisco Homeless

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To combat chronic homelessness, San Francisco Mayor Lee will stand behind a simple cure: give them housing. His two-year plan is "the biggest expansion of residential complexes for indigents in San Francisco in more than a decade."

Supportive housing expansion lies at the center of the plan: "Chief among the proposals is spending $14.5 million to turn five single-room occupancy hotels with a total of 500 rooms into city-leased supportive-housing complexes."

Corresponding programs to bolster personal service will receive funding. "Another $1.8 million is set aside to improve the case manager-to-resident ratio in most of the city's supportive-housing complexes, from the current 1 to 100 down to 1 to 35, which studies have shown is a much more successful ratio."

The social effects of tech often get bad press. However, "the new funding plan is mainly possible because of tech-driven increases in city tax revenue, Lee and others said. 'Some people vilify the new techies coming in, but the fact is that when the city has a great economy like this, then we can invest,' said Randy Shaw, head of the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, which will help run some of the new housing."

Friday, May 15, 2015 in SFGate

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