The Californer - San Francisco Opens New Permanent Supportive Housing in Mission District to House Formerly Homeless Young Adults

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San Francisco, CA — Mayor London N. Breed today joined City and community leaders to celebrate the opening of new Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) at 3061 16^th Street. Known as the Eula Hotel, the building was purchased by the City and converted into Permanent Supportive Housing with 25 units for transitional age youth aged 18 - 24. Casa Esperanza, the program serving youth in affordable homes at the Eula Hotel, will provide onsite social services to help tenants gain and maintain housing and stability.

Casa Esperanza at the Eula Hotel is just one part of a broader, multi-year strategy to combat youth homelessness. The City's Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) has scaled up housing, shelter, and services by expanding access points designed to engage youth and connect them to resources, opening the Lower Polk Transitional Age Youth Navigation Center to offer shelter and services, acquiring new buildings for youth housing including the Mission Inn and Casa Esperanza at the Eula Hotel, and expanding rental subsidies for young adults. In the last two years, this work has created 400 new housing and shelter placements, and expanded problem-solving and rental assistance for youth.

According to the 2022 Point-in-Time Count (PIT) homelessness among San Francisco youth under 24 decreased by 16% in the last five years. Between 2019 and 2022 alone, youth homelessness decreased by 6% and parenting youth households experiencing homelessness decreased by 47%.

"Housing and services like those offered at Casa Esperanza at the Eula Hotel are exactly the kinds of solutions we need to address youth homelessness," said Mayor Breed. "If we can help stabilize our young people quickly when they do become homeless, we can prevent them from becoming chronically homeless and cycling back onto our streets. This is part of a broader strategy that not only offers shelter and housing, but also connects them to employment opportunities and other support services so our young people can thrive."

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"We are very excited to see Casa Esperanza open its doors and begin to serve transitional-aged youth in San Francisco. My office has been partnering with HSH on the project for over a year and a half now, beginning with Board funding in 2021. Because this former SRO was recently remodeled and each room has its own bathroom, I believe this presents the best opportunity for a dignified place to heal and recover for homeless youth," said District 9 Supervisor Ronen. "I am also pleased that Dolores Street Community Services and Larkin Street Youth Services have been selected to operate the facility. They are trusted and well known in this community which should help this be a successful endeavor. I want to thank HSH Director Shireen McSpadden, HSH staff, and all the advocates who fought to make this program a reality."

"Providing resources like homes with supportive services allows at-risk youth to stabilize and create a foundation upon which to build," said Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing Director, Shireen McSpadden. "With this opening, we are one step closer to making TAY homelessness rare, brief and one-time.

The property at 3061 16^th Street was prioritized for acquisition based on its condition, location, price, and ability to meet the needs of young people leaving homelessness. Casa Esperanza at the Eula Hotel will be managed by Dolores Street Community Services, and the nonprofit Larkin Street Youth Services will provide residents with supportive services including healthcare, employment, and education.

"Larkin Street Youth Services is thrilled to launch new housing for Transition Age Youth (TAY) in the Mission in partnership with Dolores Street Community Services," said Sherilyn Adams, Executive Director of Larkin Street Youth Services. "Casa Esperanza at the Eula Hotel brings together two experienced community-based organizations so that Larkin Street's decades of work with young people combined with Dolores Street's deep roots in the Mission neighborhood will fill a critical gap in TAY housing for mono-lingual and immigrant youth who have long been under-served. Casa Esperanza at the Eula Hotel will provide the safety and support that young people need to thrive. We are grateful to the City for its investment in housing for TAY, and we are excited for the 25 young people who will call this program home."

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"I am pleased that our city has forged a partnership with Dolores Street Community Services and Larkin Street Youth Services to establish a home for transitional age youth who are experiencing homelessness," said Laura Valdez, Executive Director, Dolores Street Community Services. "The Latinx community is overrepresented in our unhoused population, and xenophobia and other acts of discrimination compound the unsafe conditions unhoused immigrant youth experience. Creating this home in our Mission District community will be life transforming for the 25 youth who will reside at Casa Esperanza at the Eula Hotel. Our organization is extremely proud to have the opportunity to provide these young people dignified housing and a safe and nurturing environment to have community and a place of belonging."

Supporting San Francisco's strategy on reducing youth homelessness is the Rising Up initiative, a public-private partnership launched by Mayor Breed. The initiative supports the expansion of rental subsidies with the goal of reducing youth homelessness in San Francisco by 50%. To date, the initiative has helped 507 youth find a pathway out of homelessness. Rising Up provides problem solving resources, Rapid Rehousing rental subsidies, and services to connect young people with housing and employment and set them on the right track for the future. The program also strategically focuses on the disparities the data shows in youth homelessness, including the disproportionate number of LGBTQ youth and Latino, African-American, and Indigenous youth who are homeless in San Francisco.

This new housing is part of the Mayor's Homelessness Recovery Plan and FY21-23 approved budget, which includes the largest expansion of permanent supportive housing in decades. This project is supported by a mix of local Our City, Our Home funding and state Homekey funds that were awarded for this project to support the acquisition and services.

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