{"id":4914,"date":"2017-05-10T10:46:28","date_gmt":"2017-05-10T17:46:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=4914"},"modified":"2017-05-10T10:48:04","modified_gmt":"2017-05-10T17:48:04","slug":"nonprofit-pledges-100-million-aid-sfs-chronically-homeless-kevin-fagan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2017\/05\/10\/nonprofit-pledges-100-million-aid-sfs-chronically-homeless-kevin-fagan\/","title":{"rendered":"“Nonprofit pledges $100 million to aid SF\u2019s chronically homeless” by Kevin Fagan"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Daniel<\/p>\n

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Photo: Russell Yip, The Chronicle<\/span><\/p>\n

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May 7, 2017 (SFChronicle.com)<\/p>\n

Daniel Lurie walks through the Tenderloin on his way to a meeting at Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, July 20, 2011. Lurie, founder of Tipping Point, has raised $30 million since 2005 to help eradicate poverty in the Bay Area.<\/p>\n

In the biggest donation of its kind ever made to San Francisco, the Tipping Point Community charitable organization is pledging $100 million to try to cut the chronically homeless population in half over five years \u2014 an ambitious goal for a city that has long wrestled with a street population teeming with people with seemingly intractable problems.<\/p>\n

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The money will be used to create permanent housing for street campers, improve aid for people with mental illness and other causes of homelessness, and help the city haul in more state and federal funding, according to the charity and city program directors.<\/p>\n

The last one-night homeless count released by the city, in 2015, found that 1,745 of San Francisco\u2019s 6,686 indigent people were chronically homeless. Generally, that means they\u2019d lived outside for at least a year and suffered from mental, substance-abuse problems or other difficulties.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s this chronic population \u2014 the most visible and toughest homeless people to treat \u2014 that San Francisco nonprofit Tipping Point is trying to help.<\/p>\n

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\"Shy<\/p>\n

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Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle<\/span><\/p>\n

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Shy Brown who has been homeless for seven years at her encampment along Alameda St. on Thursday May 4, 2017, in San Francisco, Ca.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The money is being raised privately and will be doled out to city agencies including the recently created Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, as well as to some nonprofits, said Daniel Lurie, Tipping Point\u2019s founder and chief executive officer.<\/p>\n

San Francisco now spends up to $265 million a year to address homelessness through police, housing, street-cleaning, counseling and other programs. Nearly half of that money goes toward supportive housing \u2014 rooms or apartments for indigent people, with counseling and other services on-site to help them conquer the troubles that put them on the street. The city has far fewer such places to live than people who need them.<\/p>\n

Chronically homeless people cost San Francisco taxpayers about $80,000 apiece every year in ambulance rides, hospital stays, jail stints and other services \u2014 about four times what it costs to give them supportive housing.<\/p>\n

Given the imprecise nature of biennial, one-night street counts, Lurie says the actual number of chronically homeless people in San Francisco may be closer to 2,000 than the 1,745 tallied in 2015. He hopes to have that down to around 1,000 by 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing too many people on the street suffering. … It\u2019s time we draw a line in the sand,\u201d Lurie said. \u201cThings have to change. It\u2019s no secret what needs to be done. We want to build on the great work that has happened at the city level and expand on innovative solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The challenge is daunting. Project planners said they are still determining how much supportive housing to aim for, but any new project is likely to be greeted with mixed reactions and loud arguments.<\/p>\n

The latest community meeting over a temporary shelter being proposed on South Van Ness Avenue is a fresh example. Several hundred people turned out Thursday night, many supporting the idea but a hefty contingent angrily denouncing it.<\/p>\n

However, with the city\u2019s economy humming and Mayor Ed Lee\u2019s new homeless department ramping up its efforts, Lurie said the timing is as good as any.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to do something that was a really big goal,\u201d he said. \u201cWe do think if we don\u2019t take advantage of this moment, it\u2019ll pass by very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

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