Plumbing

London Breed pledged $5M to repair SF homeless housing, however no progress

Sewage seeps into rooms. Deteriorated tubes. Fifteen broken bathrooms. A staircase that had reached the “end of its life”. When Mayor of London Breed announced $5 million to repair San Francisco’s crumbling housing stock for the homeless last year, the requests started pouring in.

Overall, the nonprofits that run permanent housing programs in the city requested $21.6 million worth of repairs and renovations — more than four times the amount Breed has committed in the current two-year budget — according to The public records chronicle . And yet, more than six months after the funds were made available, no money was spent to address safety and quality of life issues in 82 buildings.

The lack of action leaves thousands of formerly homeless renters, often struggling with mental and physical disabilities to endure substandard living conditions. It also notes that despite spending more than $600 million a year on homelessness, the needs often far outweigh the city’s resources. Difficult decisions about how to spend the city’s funds will only worsen as San Francisco grapples with projected deficits in the years to come.

Del Seymour, a longtime resident of Tenderloin and a member of the town’s Local Homelessness Coordinating Board, said, “This is such an embarrassment for the city and such an embarrassment for the state that we still have people in such degraded conditions.”

Gabrielle Lurie, Contributor / The Chronicle

“This should be one of the most important initiatives,” said Del Seymour, a member of the city’s Local Homelessness Coordinating Board. “This is such an embarrassment for the city and such an embarrassment for the state that we still have people in such degraded conditions.”

Breed pledged the $5 million investment last May in response to a Chronicle investigation that found residents at city-funded single-room occupancy hotels (SROs) often faced appalling conditions. Reporters found that many of the century-old hotels that form the backbone of the city’s permanent housing system are overrun by pest infestations, plumbing problems, chronically broken elevators and crime.

Since taking office, Breed has focused her attention and resources on buying and creating new housing for people currently living on the streets. More than 3,000 new units have been opened or signed since 2018. At the same time, however, The Chronicle found its administration has long neglected the thousands of people languishing in seedy hotels.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed said last year that $5 million was earmarked for repairing run-down SRO hotels.  But none of the money has been spent yet.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed said last year that $5 million was earmarked for repairing run-down SRO hotels. But none of the money has been spent yet.

Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle

Jeff Cretan, a spokesman for the mayor, said it’s an ongoing “compromise” in deciding where to allocate resources.

“We need safe and habitable places to live, and that’s important,” Cretan said. “But it’s also about making sure people can live indoors.”

The money was officially available in late July when the mayor signed off on the city’s two-year budget.

Seventy percent of funding requests came from buildings owned by not-for-profit housing providers, who say limited rental income and insufficient public support can make it difficult to keep track of maintenance.

The remaining 30% came from residential hotels that non-profit organizations rent from private landlords. Dubbed a master lease, the arrangement can be a boon to building owners, who can be paid more than $1 million each year while shifting the ongoing costs of operating and maintaining their properties to nonprofit organizations. Owners are usually responsible for major structural improvements to their buildings, such as: B. the replacement of the roof or the modernization of elevators.

But if the landlord doesn’t cooperate or falls short, the non-profit organizations often have to rely on the help of the city or private donors.

Breed’s pledge of $5 million in capital repairs was an attempt to fill some of the gaps.

Community Forward SF requested $165,000 from the city for much-needed repairs to the elevator and plumbing system at the Coronado Hotel in the Tenderloin, according to the list of requests to the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing obtained by The Chronicle.

Sammie Rayner, chief operating officer at Community Forward SF, said the elevator has since been repaired with other funds the group received from the city. “It is a challenge; We all inherited these buildings that aren’t in the best condition,” Rayner said. “These investments are really critical for us to serve our tenants.”

At the Mission Hotel, San Francisco’s largest SRO with 240 units, the Tenderloin Housing Clinic requested $609,000 to renovate several shower rooms. Last year, after a tenant complained to the building inspectorate about “dirty conditions” in the shared bathrooms, inspectors confirmed peeling paint, broken showerheads, malfunctioning locks, graffiti, a leaky ceiling and missing tiles in some facilities.

At the Senator Hotel, non-profit organization HomeRise asked for $1 million to “address significant structural needs, including the replacement of an “underperforming and aging boiler” and a “replacement roof that will ensure the long-term integrity of the building.” The SRO was subpoenaed over the past year for multiple violations of the Housing Code, building inspector records show, including water damage in rooms, holes in the ceiling and windows in “various states of disrepair”.

Reality House West, the non-profit organization that owns and operates the Cadillac Hotel, requested $250,000 for unspecified “building improvements.” The residential hotel is home to many formerly homeless seniors and people with disabilities, but public records show that its elevator frequently breaks down, sometimes trapping residents on the upper floors. In the past year alone, the fire service responded to 15 calls about people being stuck in the broken elevator.

Reality House West executive director Kathy Looper has not responded to multiple emails from The Chronicle for more specific information about the funding application.

Meanwhile, Episcopal Community Services, one of the largest sustained providers of supportive housing, asked for more money than anyone else — $5.9 million for upgrades at 11 hotels and apartment buildings. Episcopal’s chief program officer Chris Callandrillo said the nonprofit’s requests are an “abbreviated picture” of what’s actually needed.

He said the funding shows the mayor takes the problem seriously, but the $5 million provided by Breed isn’t enough “to solve all the problems in the SROs.”

Some requests seemed less urgent, such as $15,000 from Mercy Housing to install bike racks in each unit of the newly built Tahanan.

Emily Cohen, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homelessness and Assisted Housing, said the department must carefully consider which requests to grant — especially as the city braces for a projected deficit of $728 million over the next two fiscal years, as tax revenues fall in a slow recovery from the pandemic.

Cohen added that improving the quality of buildings is a “priority,” but given the bleak fiscal outlook, the department also needs to sharpen its focus on getting more people off the streets. At the same time, she said, the department is working with private landlords to hold them accountable for the repairs they are responsible for making.

“When demand exceeds what is available, we need to have a fair process for allocating the resources,” she said, adding that she expects funding decisions to be made within the next few months, with a view to the biggest resource impact the well-being of the tenants.

Joe Smith, who is staying at the Cadillac Hotel, said he would welcome the extra money to fix his SRO. While the on-site consultants have helped him regain some stability, the chronic maintenance issues have discouraged him. Mice are eating his food and clothes, he said, and the floor in his room is starting to peel off

“When I finally get somewhere that I can stay and live comfortably, maybe I can move on and get my life together, save some money, go home and see my kids,” Smith said. “But it’s quite difficult to buy cockroach spray or duct tape to tape the floor together. It’s nerve wracking. It’s very depressing right now.”

Trisha Thadani and Joaquin Palomino are contributors to the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com, jpalomino@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani, @JoaquinPalomino

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