Permanent Supportive Housing for Women and Children
San Francisco SafeHouse is excited to announce our newest program - Permanent Supportive Housing for Women and Children scheduled to open late 2025!
Every single day, women are subject to violence on the streets and in co-ed shelters, but currently have extremely limited options for where to turn for safety. Permanent Supportive Housing is the solution for these women and their families. We are looking for support to offer these women not only a place to call home and help end the cycle of generational homelessness.
THE NEED
Over 90% of women* experiencing homelessness report severe physical abuse or sexual assault in coed shelters than in gender specific spaces. In San Francisco there are approximately 3,000 women living on the street or in shelters. Cis-gender and women-identifying individuals make up 31% of the total number of homeless, yet only 92 out of 23,500 units of permanent affordable housing and 101 out of 3,084 total shelter beds are dedicated to this population. Meaning, less than one percent of permanent affordable units and a little more than 3% of shelter beds are dedicated to the need for women-specific, safe spaces.
In the last 10 years, seven gender specific organizations and programs have either shut down or switched to coed housing and services, and not because the demand for women’s housing was not there, but because the investment in women’s services was not there. With over 3,000 unhoused women in San Francisco and less than 100 permanent supportive housing units dedicated to this population specifically, San Francisco SafeHouse is providing the first steps of an opportunity to offer a remedy for unhoused women and their children. This building will not just provide homes but provide jobs and training services that will not only allow these women an opportunity to survive, but thrive in our community.
OUR VISION
In early 2024, San Francisco SafeHouse purchased a 21 unit building in the Hayes Valley neighborhood to establish the first ever women’s only permanent supportive housing building in San Francisco to serve exclusively women and their children, catering to those with disabilities or challenges that hinder their ability to live independently without ongoing supportive services.
Our approach is grounded in the Housing First model, combined with best practices for serving survivors of gender-based violence. San Francisco SafeHouse will provide a safe housing environment along with a comprehensive array of supportive services aimed at helping women thrive, breaking the cycle of intergenerational homelessness and incarceration, enabling them to rebuild their lives, and create economic opportunity.
Our goal is to complete the acquisition and construction and be debt-free to be able to permanently provide the critically needed homes rooted in safety, security, and belonging for some of San Francisco's most vulnerable people.
