Newsom's Homeless Outreach Gets Spotlight

Mayor Newsom’s Homeless Outreach Effort Continues to Gain National Attention with Project Homeless Connect VI

• Twenty-Eight representatives from cities across the country come to San Francisco to observe and participate in designated National Best Practice
  
  
• Public/Private Partnerships continue to grow in effort to end chronic homelessness in San Francisco
  
  
• 130 CEOs pledge $200,000 toward Master Lease Program and Supportive Housing Units

San Francisco - Mayor Gavin Newsom and more than 1000 exuberant volunteers today once again took over the Bill Graham Auditorium and the streets of San Francisco as part Project Homeless Connect VI, the Mayor’s continuous outreach effort to end chronic homelessness in San Francisco. Newsom’s innovative approach and designated National Best Practice continues to prove to be an effective way to connect the city’s most vulnerable population to the services and programs they need on the road to self-sufficiency. Project Homeless Connect also reinforces the mayor’s commitment to the City’s “Housing First” policy in providing more permanent supportive housing opportunities and increasing the number of placements coming directly from the streets.

The success of Project Homeless Connect continues to be a reflection of the dedication of the many volunteers who are committed to ending chronic homelessness in our City,” said Newsom. “Every time we do this, it becomes more and more a real possibility that San Francisco again leading by example, will show the nation and the world that ending chronic homelessness can be a reality,” continued the Mayor.

Project Homelessness Connect is in its sixth installment as Newsom’s bi-monthly event that allows outreach workers and volunteers to connect homeless individuals to essential and support services that include enlisting in the County Adult Assistance Program (CAAP) and Social Security Income (SSI) Advocacy. Homeless individuals are provided stations for employment counseling, veterans’ services, foot care, methadone treatment, food stamps and domestic violence counseling. Other services available include Clinical Centers-with doctors, nurses and mental health workers-and Legal Counseling Centers with legal professionals- all providing pro-bono supportive services.

Many other cities across the country have taken on Newsom’s challenge to end chronic homelessness by sending representative and officials to review and participate in the designated “best practice.” Twenty-Eight representatives from thirteen cities are in San Francisco to get a first hand look at the success of Newsom’s brainchild. Cities such as New York, Denver, Portland, Philadelphia, San Jose, Atlanta, St Louis, Santa Monica, Los Angeles County, Indianapolis, San Diego and Knoxville have all sent representatives.

The Mayor’s outreach effort has also encouraged more private sector involvement. Companies such as Nextel and Lenscrafters are leading the way for more corporate sponsors to come on board in addressing homelessness in the City. Nextel provided clients and volunteers with phones and telecommunications devices equipped with GPS mapping service to allow for more expedited and efficient follow-up in terms of identifying locations, pick-up and of transportation of homeless individuals back to the Bill Graham Auditorium. Additionally Nextel provided free nation-wide phone service for homeless individuals to call and “re-connect” with family and friends. Lenscrafters again provided a free on-site vision care unit that filled same-day prescriptions for individuals needing glasses. Over twenty-five corporations have signed up to provide services during Project Homeless Connect including Safeway Stores, Webcor Builders, SBC, Starbucks, Kinko’s, AAA, Luxor Cab Company and Walgreens to name a few.

Since it’s inception, the City’s Project Homeless Connect event has fostered an unprecedented spirit of involvement from everyday individuals, community and faith-based groups, public figures and corporations wanting to do whatever possible to help conquer homelessness in San Francisco and across the country. Many of the City’s high-ranking CEOs have already pledged $200,000 that will go toward the City’s Master Lease Program and to increase the number of supportive housing units. Phil Mangano, Executive Director of the White House Interagency Council on Homelessness has continued to point to San Francisco as a model city leading the nation by example in fighting homelessness in our urban cities.

Newsom’s “housing-first” approach has also resulted in improved shelter service for the city’s homeless individuals. Three of the City’s largest shelters, The Episcopal Sanctuary, MSC-South and The Next Door Shelter now have 24- hour access and security in place to make the transitional housing safer and more accommodating to the needs of its homeless clients.

The City’s commitment to the “housing first” model which also includes providing necessary support services has become a national model in how to address homelessness in urban cities. Project Homeless Connect will be observed nation-wide on December 8, 2005. San Francisco’s Project Homeless Connect will celebrate it’s first anniversary with PHC VII on October 13, 2005 which is exactly one year to date that Mayor Newsom’s vision was implemented to end chronic homelessness in San Francisco.