April 26, 2024
San Francisco Mayor London Breed wants to spend $6.5 million to house the city’s transgender homeless community as part of a larger effort to get people off the streets

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San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Tuesday announced an ambitious plan to spend $6.5 million to end homelessness for transgender individuals in five years.

The mayor’s office will work with several city agencies and local non-profit groups to end homelessness for the estimated 400 transgender and gender nonconforming homeless people in the city, according to a news release from Breed’s office. The plan is included in her proposed two-year budget.

“Transgender, non-binary, and gender nonconforming San Franciscans are eighteen times more likely to experience homelessness compared to the general population, and we know that the rates are even higher for our minority trans communities,” Breed said in a statement. “With one of the largest TGNC populations in the country, we not only must ensure that all San Franciscans have access to housing and essential resources through continued investments, but we can show the country that we continue to be a leader on supporting and protecting our trans communities.”

Included in her plan are 150 long-term investments through the city’s housing subsidy pool program, $6 million over two years to fund short-term rentals and $500,000 for behavioral science health services for transgender people experiencing homelessness or at-risk for homelessness. 

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Homeless people are seen on streets of the Tenderloin district in San Francisco. On Tuesday, Mayor London Breed announced a plan to end homelessness for transgender individuals in the city. 

Homeless people are seen on streets of the Tenderloin district in San Francisco. On Tuesday, Mayor London Breed announced a plan to end homelessness for transgender individuals in the city.  ((Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images))

“This is a groundbreaking initiative that meets the needs of transgender and gender nonconforming individuals who are uniquely vulnerable to an array of health and safety challenges associated with unsheltered homelessness,” said Supervisor Matt Dorsey.

Homelessness in transgender communities particularly impacts Black, Hispanic and other transgender women of color, the city said. 

Like other cities in California, San Francisco has long been plagued by homelessness and the crime and sanitary issues that come with people living on the streets. Efforts to house them have been mixed. 

More than 100 people fatally overdosed on fentanyl in San Francisco hotels used to house the homeless between 2020 and 2021, Seattle radio host Jason Rantz told “Tucker Carlson Tonight” in February. 

“I would argue that ‘disaster’ is probably an understatement,” Rantz told host Tucker Carlson. “The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing poured $160 million into a program to create these homeless hotels. They turn hotel rooms into permanent supportive housing that ends up getting managed by various nonprofits, and it’s been a total failure.”

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Around the sand time, a homeless man claimed the city was paying him to be homeless. Breed is expected to unveil her budget proposal Wednesday.