Family members ask for public investigation after resident found undiscovered in HomeRise unit
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Summary
At a Homeless Oversight Commission meeting, family members and advocates demanded a public investigation into the death of a resident at a HomeRise-run supportive housing site and called for audits, withholding funds, and independent oversight of supportive services.
At a meeting of the San Francisco Homeless Oversight Commission, family members of a man who died in a HomeRise-operated supportive housing unit asked the commission to open a public investigation and to withhold further funding from the provider until compliance with wellness and emergency-response protocols is proven.
Haysha McCain told commissioners her brother Eric was left undiscovered for more than a week and described arriving to a decomposed body; she said HomeRise staff failed to perform required wellness checks and that an internal investigation by the provider is insufficient. "My brother might be alive today if they had done their job," McCain said, adding that she wants "a public investigation, not a private one, not an internal review" with "findings, timelines, and accountability the families and the public can see." McCain also urged that HomeRise be placed under fiscal or administrative sponsorship if it cannot meet standards, and she called for a full audit of resident services across supportive housing.
A friend of the decedent, Creighton McGowan, echoed those requests and proposed concrete steps: a public audit of supportive-housing providers focused on wellness-check procedures and documentation; mandated minimum in-person wellness checks for residents; public reporting when residents are unreachable; and a requirement that the commission review provider contracts and recommend corrective actions or funding adjustments when protocols fail. "Supportive housing should be more than just a label," McGowan said. "It should be a safe place with real, enforceable standards."
Neither the department nor the commission recorded a formal action on those requests during the meeting. Director Shereena McSpadden was present for the session; the family said HomeRise's CEO had notified them of an internal investigation and offered condolences, and McCain said the family rejected private-only reviews. Commissioners thanked speakers and recorded the comments for the public record. The commission did not vote on a referral or order a formal public inquiry during the meeting.
