Thread by @_fruchtose

Hello San Francisco. I'm attending a community meeting hosted by the SF Department of Homelessness and Supportive housing for the acquisition of 5630 Mission St, to convert the building to 52 permanent supportive housing units. Supervisor Safaí is present.

Spanish, Cantonese, and Tagalog interpretation will be provided in different Zoom channels.

The interpreters just gave instructions for receiving interpretation. There are are now over 100 attendees in the Zoom meeting, including staff.

Deborah Bouck from HSH is now introducing Supervisor Safaí for initial comments.

He thanks everyone for coming, and says that this meeting would be held in person if not for the Delta variant of COVID-19. "It would have been my preference to be in person."

Safaí says his entire team is here in the meeting. And participants in the safe-parking RV site are here. He says this hotel conversion is supported by the mayor, who has been planning it for over a year to increase affordable housing in the City.

Safaí says there are hotels who no longer want to be in the hotel industry due to COVID-19, so now there are state programs to buy hotels for affordable housing.

Safaí: "This site—so we can dispel any misconceptions—would never be a homeless shelter." It would only be affordable housing.

He says he owns a home in D11 and has made a very clear statement about the need for the neighborhood to create affordable housing opportunities.

Safaí: "We have to have all neighborhoods participate" in creating affordable housing. He's going over other D11 housing projects, like Balboa Upper Yard, old Discovery site, and a funeral home conversion. However, D11 does not have supportive housing.

Safaí says that residents here will pay rent, and that that 20 of the 52 units on-site have been used to house veterans as an interim use for 18 months, with very few incidents.

Safaí: "[Providing housing] is the moral obligation of our time." The homelessness crisis is visible on the streets on a daily basis.

Shireen McSpadden, Director of HSH, says a "confluence of funding has come together" in a way that was not possible before. She says she's looking forward to the presentation, and thanks D11 for their support of the vehicle triage program.

McSpadden says that they learned a lot from the program, and they'll set up two vehicle triage programs this fiscal year.

Emily Cohen, Director of Strategy & External Affairs at HSH, is now presenting.

Instructions for Q&A

We're now up to 123 Zoom meeting participants

Cohen: "We have a significant lack of affordable homes, particular for those who are most in need—people who are experiencing homelessness."

She says that housing with services can address that. There's a confluence of resources (read: money) from state and local govt for this.

Cohen says that the City is proposing to purchase four new buildings w/ 368 total units in different neighborhoods.

Today's meeting will focus on the bottom diamond, the Mission Inn

Cohen affirms Supervisor Safaí's statement that this is long-term housing, and it's the most effective way to end homelessness.

Cohen says that permanent supportive housing is a game changer in the lives of people who have experienced homelessness

Cohen says that Brenda was given supportive housing just before the holidays, and now her favorite thing to do at home is to cook meals.

The Mission Inn at 5630 Mission Street came to the attention of the City after the property owner responded to a Request for Information about selling. Vice Director Cohen notes that this project has large bathrooms, and it's close to public transportation.

Cohen says that this property was selected based in condition, location, price, amenities, and ability to meet needs of a homeless population.

Cohen says that this proposal will be voted on by the Budget & Finance Committee of the Board of Supervisors, before a vote by the full Board. A provider will be selected this fall. Cohen says there's a typo, and the purchase closing date will be the end of the year.

Emily Cohen is introducing a couple participants in the vehicle triage program to speak, but there are some technical difficulties.

Steven Depont-Kalani is praising the vehicle triage program. D11 folks volunteered their time to bring Christmas presents to the vehicle triage lot residents. He's angry that Caitlyn Jenner toured the Tenderloin and said police need to get the homeless off the street.

Depont-Kalani says someone asked him why D11 needs a homeless shelter. He replied that it's housing.

Supervisor Safaí says that Prop C was upheld in court and has provided millions of dollars to address homelessness. He's thanking all the voters who supported it. "Creating more housing allows us to help more people and ensure they don't end up on the streets of San Francisco."

Our first NIMBY comment 🙃

Amit Motawala, manager and resident of Mission Inn, is here to assuage neighbors. They worked w/ Swords to Plowshares and housed up to 45 veterans in the buildings. He says that his family did have concerns about safety at first, but it was a positive and rewarding experience.

Motawala: "The Mission Inn has always been used by people in transition." Chris Gardner lived there for a bit, and some of the movie scenes in The Pursuit of Happyness were shot at Mission Inn.

We're now going to Q&A.

Commenter 1 says he and his wife have lived on the 400 block for 27 lives. "I'm gonna be straightfoward—as early as last Tuesday night there was police activity at the back of the hotel with rifles.... We've had needles, trash, many cars.... We're all against this."

SFPD Captain Nicole Jones says there was police activity. They were serving a warrant, but prior to that they had no problems at the Mission Inn.

Yikes

Commenter 2 also lives on the 400 block and is thanking the City for this project. But they say they have one child who attends Longfellow Elementary across the street. They would like to see Mission Inn converted to family housing, or a "step up" hotel.

Emily Cohen of HSH says they haven't determined which population will be targeted for this housing.

Next commenter is Wesley Saver of GLIDE, and they were one of the original Prop C supporters. Hotels are available at half the cost of new construction b/c rehab costs less. This would be a bold leap forward, and it's the moral thing to do.

Supervisor Safaí says that the average cost to build a unit of housing in San Francisco is over $800,000. He brings up the Homekey program, where SF bought two hotels last fall, and it was much cheaper than that.

Safaí also adds, "I want to overemphasize, this is not just happening in District 11."

Commenter 4 says their mom lives on the 400 block for 40 years and runs a daycare there. "Our main concern is who is gonna be housed here. What's the qualification? Are these gonna be homeless people put into more permanent housing? Is there a current waiting list."

The commenter says there are two schools across the street, so they're concerned about safety.

Supervisor Safaí says there are a number of different categories. D11 has one of the highest concentrations of young adults and people under 18. And youth 18-24 years old have among the highest risk of homelessness. Families are a possibility, as well.

Emily Cohen says that anyone who lives here will pay 30% of their income as rent, be it Social Security or earned income. Subsidy would make up the rest. She says it's not Section 8 housing as this Zoom commenter suggests.

Commenter 5 lives two doors down from the hotel. They love the project and would love to see families or transitional aged youth. But they would not like to see people struggling with addiction or alcohol because that would attract drug sales into the neighborhood.

Commenter 6 wants to know it will be guaranteed that this project won't create an open air drug market.

Captain Jones of SFPD says they'll work to address any drug dealing.

Emily Cohen of HSH says that this site will be staffed and managed, and they'll take responsibility for what happens on the site.

Oh come on

Commenter 7 is an SF native and says they're appalled by some of these comments, especially about the homeless using drugs. "Maybe people need to look at their own damn family members cuz I bet you got one in your family, too."

We need to stop Zoom comments until we can figure out what's going on

Commenter 8 gave a brief comment, thanking Supervisor Safaí for their leadership.

Commenter 9 says that they've lived in SF for 45 years, and there were few homeless people then. This is a solvable problem. Rents have gone sky-high, and there's an attitude that being poor is a crime. We need to be responsible as a City. They support the project.

I am going to become the Joker

Betty Traynor from Senior & Disability Action is here. She says this is a wonderful location for unhoused people. Many are seniors and have disabilities. It would be great to have seniors there. They would not be a threat to the neighborhood.

Traynor says that the residents would be supported on a 24/7 basis.

Commenter 11 says that they worked on the vehicle triage center task force. There were concerns about that site, too. And the neighborhood took on the residents of the site. When you have on-site managers like Urban Alchemy, problems don't occur. They're thanking Safaí.

Commenter 12 says the previous speaker took the words out of their mouth. They say the vehicle triage program was a very well run program.

Julia D'Antonio supports this program

Speaker 13 says this would be an amazing opportunity. Mutual aid is really important. Many families in SFUSD are homeless. We need to make this a family space, because the Excelsior is a family space.

Another supportive comment

Speaker 14 says they had to change their walking path with their dog due to needles and loitering. They didn't know what it was until today. "Does anyone know what this is going to do to our home values?... D11 has been the whipping child of SF for decades."

Speaker 15 is Marco Montenegro, Director of Excelsior Works: "We need to lead by doing right what serves our neighborhood." Supportive housing is a tried and true solution to ending homelessness.

Speaker 16 wants to know what support will be provided to residents with mental health or substance abuse issues.

Emily Cohen of HSH says there will be 24/7 staffing, plus on-site case management. That includes getting help getting a job, recovery, stabilizing health, etc.

No notes

Speaker 17 says we really need housing for families and elders, as we're facing evictions of elders.

Speaker 18 is Gabriel Medina, born and raised in SF. He once stayed in the Mission Inn while looking for a home. He says supportive housing is some the safest housing to live next to, because it has staffing.

Speaker 19 is Michael Blecker of Swords to Plowshares. He says vets have been at Mission Inn since 2020. Staying there helped them become eligible to receive VA healthcare. Being a community is about helping neighbors. StP has helped veterans integrate into the community.

Speaker 20 says that they appreciate when the City recognizes an opportunity to help out unhoused neighbors. Neighbors want to hear firm proposals about who or how this site will be managed. "We haven't heard any concrete proposal about what you wanna do with this."

Supervisor Safaí says this is the first step in a larger process. It's a fair concern, but we can't yet talk about who will live there. Every person who lives there will have a lease and will be asked to leave if their lease is broken. There will be security.

Safaí says that who will live there depends on how the site will be reconfigured, and he would like to house youth who are at risk of homelessness. But there will be a community process, which starts with purchasing the building. There will be more opportunities for input.

Safaí says there will be more engagement, and upgrades to the building. Who the residents will be will be a continued conversation.

Speaker 21 is an associate pastor at the SF Christian Center. They're excited that it's supportive housing, not a homeless shelter where people will come in and out. Don't say that people who are financially insecure are bad people.

Speaker 22 says if we already have supportive housing in place with just one place, it's a no-brainer to buy the property. Their only concern is the cannabis dispensary 1k feet away.

Speaker 23 is Charlie Sciammas on behalf of PODER. The safe parking site was a good step, and community concerns were addressed. This can work the same way. "Our unhoused neighbors deserve better from us. It's the right thing to do."

Speaker 24 says their concern is parking. They live in the 400 block of Ellington, where they plan to build 10-unit condos behind their house. They'd like to know how parking will be addressed.

Emily Cohen says most of the residents will not have parking. And there will be some parking on-site for staff. She doesn't anticipate a big impact to neighborhood parking.

Two questions are being read from chat.

1. Is this a navigation center?
2. Is this bridge housing?

Rachel Cohen emphasizes that this is affordable housing with services. In a navigation center, tenants stay for a few months. In supportive housing, people have rents and leases. This will be similar to an apartment building. It is subsidized.

Speaker 24 says that the well-being of our community is only as secure as its most vulnerable members. We have an incredible window to expand the stock of permanently affordable housing. It's an investment in the future of our city.

Speaker 25 is a Spanish speaker. The interpreter is summarizing, saying the speaker was thanking the City for this project because everyone needs a home and everyone deserves a home.

Speaker 26 has been a resident with their family for 78 years. They say they don't know how a proposal can be approved without knowing what it's going to be used for. This site could be used for "street drug dealing across from an elementary school."

Emily Cohen of HSH says that there will be a process to match people with housing.

Speaker 27 says that "no one is against affordable housing—we're just concerned about the type of residents that will live there." They say there's a great need for affordable housing, "but the problem is there's no mention who's gonna be living there."

Another meeting participant blurts out, "That's discriminating, lady!"

Speaker 28 has experienced homelessness as a youth and as an adult. Affordable housing in TL hotels have been positive on the neighborhood, and they support this project.

Speaker 29 says that as of 2014, HSH has failed at coordinated entry, and homelessness has increased by 300%.

Rachel Cohen says services will be provided by a non-profit. HSH will be very transparent with the community about reporting the success of permanent supportive housing.

The Spanish interpreter is reading two comments from the chat, both of whom support the project.

Steven Depont-Kalani is commenting on some of the speakers, saying that at the vehicle triage center run by Urban Alchemy, there were rules. He says that 99% of participants obeyed the rules of the program. One person was asked to leave. Overall HSH did a fantastic job.

Depont-Kalani says it's a great idea for members of the community who want to bounce back and forth their experiences [with HSH programs]. People who live at Mission Inn will have the opportunity to rebuild their lives.

Deborah Bouck says that is all the time we have for Q&A.

Unironically this

Supervisor Safaí is giving closing comments. A lot of people ask, "Why are we [in D11] being treated differently from Pacific Heights?" We're building affordable housing. We are building a brand new library. Our emergency water system will be upgraded. We're getting investments.

Safaí: "It's time for us to step up and do our fair share in a crisis.... We have a moral obligation to step up and provide housing in this crisis. These are San Franciscans." The vast majority of homeless residents are San Franciscans.

Safaí says they've had hundreds of hotel and motel owners respond to HSH's request for information. They've been vetting for months. "Ultimately, we will decide together as a community who will populate this housing." He says yes to hotels in Pac Heights and Nob Hill.

Safaí says this program is happening all over San Francisco. As an elected official he's in favor of expanding affordable housing opportunities.

Safaí says that a professional team of people will operate this housing, who know how to do this as part of their professional work.

Dolores Street Community Services supports this project

HSH Director McSpadden is thanking everyone for attending. "We never have a shortage of opinions—that's for sure." She says that together, we can make this work. We need to support our neighbors.

Safaí says that his entire office will respond to questions and work with HSH to respond.

Housing Justice Action Team at PODER supports the project

The meeting is now over. Thanks for reading!