Posted on Mission Local by XUEER LU FEBRUARY 23, 2024, 6:50 PM
Construction site of Mission Cabins, also known as "tiny homes", on Feb. 23, 2024. Photo by Xueer Lu.
Mission Cabins, a village of 60 tiny homes serving up to 68 adults experiencing homelessness, hopes to open by the end of March at 1979 Mission Street next to the 16th St. BART plaza, and to begin services in early April.
The city recently awarded a two-year $2.9 million a year contract to manage the site to Five Keys Schools and Programs, a nonprofit. Five Keys also manages the Embarcadero SAFE Navigation Center, a site for shorter stays for people with substance use disorders.
Steve Good, president and chief executive officer of Five Keys, said that the nonprofit will be offering 24/7 services such as property management, case management, cleaning inside and outside of the site, room checks, and maintenance. “It’ll be pretty comprehensive services not just for the site,” Good added. “But also to be good neighbors with the community.”
On Friday, the former parking lot was busy with activity: trucks and workers were going in and out transporting construction materials, some white cabins and metallic bathrooms had been installed, and eight-foot poles for the fences had gone up.
Across from the site, at Capp and Adair streets, some 10 neighbors stood in a circle with city staff for a community meeting to go over a draft of an agreement with the Healthy Streets Operation Center and Departments of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, Public Works, and Police.
The draft proposed a list of policies to ease concerns previously raised by nearby residents, as well as some parents at Marshall Elementary School, a K-5 public school located adjacent to the site.The city agreed that the Capp Street entrance and exit to the cabins will only be used for emergencies, any tents on the sidewalk in front will be immediately reported to 311 by staff, and HSH will create an incident dashboard to track service requests and 311/911 calls.
“I’m happy to see them add in a lot of the things that we requested,” said Naomi Fox, PTA president at Marshall, listing more items such as a minimum of three perimeter inspections daily, and collecting litter around the site. “It’s happy to see a step in a positive direction.”
A man who gave his name as George, who has been living on Adair Street since 2002, asked about the program’s opening date.
“I’m going to say April 1 but it might shift,” said Emily Cohen, deputy director for communications and legislative affairs at HSH. It might shift depending on where we are with construction.”
The preparation for move-in, Cohen said, has been an ongoing process: Outreach workers from HSH have been quietly identifying a list of over 100 people who have been living for many months in nearby encampments. They plan to invite 10 to 20 people per week into the site until it reaches full capacity. Upon moving into the tiny homes, guests will have access to on-site bathrooms, showers, community space, case management, and up to two meals a day.
“We will literally walk people over with the outreach team if they’re in an encampment or if they’re just like an individual hanging out in the street,” Cohen said.
Cohen emphasized the role of Santiago Lerma, Supervisor Hilary Ronen’s former legislative aide and the director of Mission Streets Condition Response. Ronen promised Lerma’s participation last October in a community meeting where she was bashed by residents for quietly agreeing to the cabins. Cohen said Lerma would be out on the street on a “daily basis, leveraging city resources to address challenges.”
“I can’t stop somebody from smoking fentanyl on the street. But I can be out here,” Lerma said. “I can talk to people. I can communicate with Captain Harvey [of SFPD’s Mission Station] on a daily basis about things all around the Mission. I’ll be coming here every day.”
“I was worried but now I think it’s looking pretty good,” said Aaron Wojack, a resident who has been living on the block for two and a half years. “Better than the old parking lot.”