San Francisco outlines multi‑pronged strategy for people living in RVs and other vehicles

Shereen McFadden, executive director of the San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH), told the commission on May 1 that the city is developing a multi‑pronged strategy to address people living in RVs and oversized vehicles while centering homelessness prevention.

"Housing offers must be a rationally better choice than staying in a car or an RV," McFadden said, summarizing the program’s principle that any alternatives must preserve the autonomy, privacy and safety people often cite for living in vehicles.

McFadden said the number of people living in vehicles rose 37% since 2022 to an estimated 1,444 households in the 2024 point‑in‑time count; the March 2025 Healthy Streets Operations Center count identified 472 occupied oversized vehicles. She said those occupied vehicles are geographically concentrated: 55% in District 10 and 25% in District 7.

The components HSH previewed include an RV and oversized‑vehicle task force to oversee strategy development; a specialized outreach team pairing SFMTA parking enforcement officers with homelessness outreach staff to identify occupied vehicles and provide progressive engagement; and an RV buyback program intended to compensate people for vehicles so they may accept housing offers. The department said it is designing a pilot to test combinations of these interventions and will bring more details to the commission in coming months.

HSH framed the strategy as a homelessness‑prevention approach. McFadden said staff will try to “identify people by name and license plate number and determine which segment of the population those folks fall into,” distinguishing people without alternatives, ‘‘voluntarily mobile residents’’ who choose vehicle living, and predatory rental schemes involving multiple vehicles.

Related program updates and early implementation

McFadden and HSH staff also described shelter and program capacity that tie into the RV response. HSH opened phase 1 of Gerald Commons on April 1, a site of small cabins targeted to older adults; HSH reported the first phase contains 60 cabins with 68 beds and noted the site could expand by converting an on‑site warehouse to an 82‑bed dorm, adding 54 more cabins, or installing a 100‑bed sprung structure. HSH said 8 of the initial cabins are available for people willing to move from RVs into cabins, and outreach teams have canvassed nearby vehicles to offer that option.

HSH announced a proposed 60‑bed recovery‑focused shelter at the Sharon Hotel, 226 Sixth Street, to be operated in partnership with the Salvation Army. On funding, HSH staff said the Sharon is being stood up using a mix of reallocated HAP grant funds and planned applications for state encampment grant funds; the Civic Center Motor Inn beds announced recently use opioid‑settlement funds.

HSH also described a change in management for Journey Home, the paid relocation program that provides transportation to another city. HSH will assume administrative control in two phases: an immediate transfer of existing staff and program administration and later a competitive procurement to contract management to a nonprofit partner. HSH said it will provide travel stipends and temporary beds for participants who need a place to stay before travel.

Operational metrics cited

HSH provided monthly operational metrics to the commission: in March, outreach teams conducted 211 housing assessments, connected 13 households to long‑term housing, made 192 shelter placements and conducted 3,410 engagements. Coordinated entry carried out 1,219 assessments in March; HSH funds 13,511 housing units across its system and in March moved 189 people into permanent housing (142 adults, 30 families, 17 young adults). On 04/18/2025 HSH reported 3,832 shelter guests and a 93% occupancy rate in the shelter system.

Public comment and provider concerns

Speakers at public comment urged caution about enforcement that results in ticketing, towing or disposal of vehicle dwellings. Flo Kelly, a volunteer with the Coalition on Homelessness, asked HSH to involve vehicle residents and their advocates in pilot design and to request that other city agencies