By Rachel Lampert
San Francisco has seen an uptick in unhoused individuals recently although street camping has declined. Unfortunately, these numbers have not seemed to disappear. As of right now, the number of those who are dealing with homelessness in the Bay Area is up by 7%. According to the point-in-time counts from The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, (HSH) they say. “Total homelessness (combining sheltered and unsheltered people) increased by 7% since 2022 from 7,754 to 8,323.” This is an ongoing issue where one area may look resolved, and the other one may not be.
An article published by Sydney Johnson and Vanessa Rancaño (West Coast stations and Q.E.D.) says. “San Francisco has increased shelter availability by 60% since 2018, according to HSH. Earlier this year, officials announced they were bringing 300 shelter beds back online, returning the shelters to their pre-pandemic size after cutting capacity to prevent COVID-19 transmission.”This results in a total of 108 individuals on the waitlist. However, there has been an emergency rent relief program put in place, which has prevented around 10,000 evictions as mentioned in a city analysis report from April.
If you are interested in finding out more information on how you can get involved call the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing at 628-652-7700 or dhsh@sfgov.org for general questions or concerns.
References:
City and County of San Francisco, Board of Supervisors, Budget and Legislative Analyst. (2024, April 23). San Francisco’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program. https://sfbos.org/sites/default/files/BLA.ERAP_.042324.pdf
Johnson, S., & Rancaño, V. (2024, May 16). San Francisco homelessness up 7% despite decline in street camping.KQED. https://www.kqed.org/news/11986620/san-francisco-homelessness-up-7-despite-decline-in-street-camping
San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. (n.d.). Home. https://hsh.sfgov.org/