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Shelter operators and advocates urge $5 million to backfill HPRP and shore up overcrowded shelters
Summary
Shelter providers, homeless‑service advocates and people who use the services asked supervisors for a $5 million add‑back to replace expiring federal HPRP funds and to increase staffing and supplies at shelters and drop‑in centers, warning of dangerous staff‑to‑client ratios and long family shelter wait lists.
A broad coalition of homeless‑service providers and clients testified that recent funding cuts and the impending loss of federal HPRP (Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Rehousing Program) dollars have left the city’s shelter system critically underresourced.
“Without this funding, the continuation of this funding, many more San Franciscans are at risk of becoming homeless,” said Jennifer Friedenbach of the Coalition on Homelessness, urging a $5 million allocation to restore shelter beds, drop‑in center capacity and emergency supplies.
Speakers from Larkin Street Youth Services, Hospitality House, Episcopal Community Services and others described staff reductions, severe capacity pressures, a family shelter wait list that spiked to more than 200 families, and the closure of drop‑in slots. Bradley Anderson, a client of Larkin Street, and multiple youth described how programs helped them find housing and employment and said cuts would reverse those gains.
Service providers noted HPRP had prevented or ended homelessness for roughly 2,400 households in recent years; losing those funds, they said, would make the system less safe and less able to connect clients to permanent housing. Several speakers asked the committee to pair short‑term backfill with a ballot revenue measure to generate sustainable funding.
The committee accepted public comment and moved most budget items to the full Board; any specific allocation would require Board action.
