Central City Hospitality House [aka Hospitality House]

Results: Our core neighborhoods are epicenters for BIPOC and low-income people who suffer from racism, oppression, poverty, and homelessness. Centering highly disenfranchised and traumatized communities, predominantly of color, has been part of Hospitality House’s DNA since its founding. Twelve of the agency’s 14-person senior leadership team are people of color. Major accomplishments include: ● In 1980, we opened one of the City’s first homeless shelters, primarily for men of color. Our current executive director was an early resident of the shelter. ● In the mid-80s, we opened the Tenderloin Self-Help Center, the City’s first peer-based mental health resource center. Designed to serve primarily low-income residents of color. ● In 1978, we launched our award-winning community newspaper, The Tenderloin Times, published in four languages, spotlighting issues affecting people of color. ● In 2008, we opened the Sixth Street Self-Help Center. ● Early in the COVID-19 crisis, Hospitality House became the City’s first single adult shelter to relocate the majority of its congregate shelter residents - almost exclusively men of color - to private hotel rooms for their safety and health. This bold action prompted the City of San Francisco to follow our lead by eventually placing thousands of COVID- vulnerable residents in shelter-in-place hotels. ● In November 2020, for the first time, the Department of Elections designated Hospitality House as an official Polling Place to increase voter access and participation in the Tenderloin neighborhood. Voter participation increased by more than 10% in Hospitality House’s precinct. ● Hospitality House has helped build community power by founding and/or leading community coalitions that support affordable housing, fight displacement, and promote budget justice, workforce programs, and community safety. Coalitions include Market Street for the Masses (20 orgs); Human Services Network (75 orgs); Budget Justice Coalition (40 orgs); Golden Gate Avenue Safety Committee (22 orgs); Homeless Workforce Collaborative (12 orgs); and Homeless Emergency Services Provider Association (28 orgs).

Target demographics: individuals struggling with homelessness and poverty.

Direct beneficiaries per year: 18,000 individuals

Geographic areas served: San Francisco's Tenderloin, Sixth Street Cooridor, and Mid-Market neighborhoods

Programs: Hospitality House six programs help rebuild lives, celebrate creativity, and strengthen community:  The Tenderloin Self-Help Center and Sixth Street Self-Help Center are behavioral health-based community centers that provide a range of emergency and support services using a low-threshold, peer-based, self-help model – each year these community centers accommodate more than 20,000 visits from low-income community residents;  The Shelter Program after nearly 40 years, we closed our congregate shelter in response to the COVID-19 crisis. We now staff a 65-room Shelter-In-Place Hotel, as part of the City’s response to providing temporary, safe housing for COVID-vulnerable residents experiencing homelessness;  The Community Arts Program offers the City’s only free studio and gallery space where low-income artists can create, house and sell artwork, offering open studio hours, free supplies and skills –building workshops, and frequent opportunities for artists to exhibit and sell their work. Artists keep 100% of the proceeds from their art sales – our unique social enterprise;  The Community Building Program is a hub for civic engagement, leadership development, and community building in San Francisco’s central city, offering trauma healing, civic engagement, and skills-building for local residents experiencing the trauma of poverty and racial injustice; each year hundreds of residents participate;  The Employment Program offers job readiness services, employment and training resources, and job placement support through two neighborhood-based employment resources centers. We’ve built relationships with more than 60 employers throughout the Bay Area, in a range of industries. Each year, more than 200 job seekers obtain gainful full-or part-time employment.