San Francisco Opens Mission Cabins to Expand Temporary Shelter for Individuals Experiencing Homelessness

60 new cabins are part of continued expansion of City’s shelter services, which have increased by over 60% over the last 5 years

April 15, 2024

San Francisco, CA -- Today Mayor London N. Breed and Supervisor Hillary Ronen announced the city has opened its latest temporary shelter program, the Mission Cabins, which will provide 60 cabins for people experiencing homelessness at 1979 Mission Street. The project, modeled after the successful 33 Gough Cabins, will provide private cabins and onsite support services for individuals experiencing homelessness. The program is expected to run for at least two years until the long-term affordable housing development planned for the site breaks ground.  

Mission Cabins is part of the city’s ongoing efforts to expand access to temporary shelter.  Since 2018, San Francisco has expanded shelter capacity by over 60%, with over 3,900 shelter beds now online and more coming online soon. These temporary shelter beds are critical as part of the city’s efforts to move people from the street, to shelter, and back to housing stability. Over the last five years, San Francisco has helped over 15,000 people permanently exit homelessness.   

Mission Cabins will offer individuals experiencing homelessness a safe, temporary living environment and the services they need to move beyond homelessness. Each cabin provides a private room with a locking door, a comfortable bed, storage space, a desk, a chair, outlets, and heating. The site includes hygiene facilities, a dining area, and community space. The program will also provide meals, case management, health services and activities for guests.  Staff will be onsite 24/7 to ensure the safety and well-being of residents.   

 “The new Mission Cabins will provide a critical new space in our work to bring people off the streets and into a safe, stable environment,” said Mayor London Breed. “We want people indoors, where it’s safe and where they can get on the path to a more secure, long-term housed environment. That’s how we end homelessness for people who need help and it’s how we prevent long-term encampments in our neighborhoods.”

"The homelessness crisis is the biggest problem facing our city. Now, approximately 65 people who have been homeless and living on the streets in the Mission will have dignified shelter and around-the-clock social services. I am proud to have championed the Mission Cabins with city departments, community advocates, and many neighbors in District 9. I believe these cabins will improve many individual lives as well as street conditions in the Mission," said District 9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen.

“The launch of the Mission Cabins expands an innovative shelter model for people experiencing homelessness in the Mission,” said San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing executive director, Shireen McSpadden. “The Mission Cabins are a step towards creating more inclusive and compassionate shelter in areas of high need, where everyone has the opportunity to thrive with dignity.” 

Five Keys Schools and Programs was selected through a competitive process to operate the site and provide onsite social services.  Through a partnership with the Department of Public Health, health services will be provided on site several days per week. 

“Five Keys is once again proud to partner with HSH by supporting the operations of the Mission Cabins,” said Steve Good, executive director of Five Keys. “Five Keys prides itself on providing a safe and dignified home for the unsheltered. We look forward to working with the community to ensure this site is a success.”   

“The Mission Cabins initiative offers people a safe and welcoming alternative to living on the streets,” said Public Works Director Carla Short, whose in-house teams provided design, project management and construction management services. “This is just the type of thoughtful and collaborative project we need to keep San Francisco moving in the right direction to provide shelter for unhoused residents and to improve neighborhood street conditions.” 

"Providing healthcare onsite to the Mission Cabins residents is an example of our commitment to offering easily accessible and low-barrier treatment to address health disparities in our communities” said Director of Health Dr. Grant Colfax. “We are pleased to be a part of this partnership and collaboration to ensure people receive the support and care they need."

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Are SF's Navigation Centers a Magnet for Crime? Here's How Data Refutes Public Perception

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- San Francisco's first navigation center opened in 2015. Since then, the city has built several others in an effort to move some of the homeless into permanent housing. They have always been controversial.

In August 2019, a surveillance camera caught a resident of a building near San Francisco's Embarcadero being attacked by a homeless man with mental health issues.

The timing could not have been worse as the city had announced just several months before that a navigation center for the unhoused would be built just a few paces from where the attack happened.

A battle ensued between residents of the South Beach and Rincon Hill neighborhoods and City Hall, arguing that the navigation center would bring in more homeless, attract crime, and more drug use.

It turns out, it never did any of those things.

Let's compare crime incident reports in that area before the navigation center opened with the most recent incident reports provided by SFPD. Turns out, the neighborhoods with a navigation center, like the rest of San Francisco, have seen a decrease in crime.

Some of the residents overlooking both the Bay and the courtyard of the navigation center have also argued they've been financially affected.

"The people that own here in this condominium probably lost about 15% of the value of their home," says resident Dirk Etienne.

According to the data, residents have lost 13-15% of their value, but they can't blame the navigation center because every neighborhood in San Francisco has seen a similar or higher decline.

Read the Full Article on ABC News

Steve Good: From County Jail to the Classroom - Breaking Chains Through Education

Steve Good, the President and CEO of Five Keys Schools and Programs. From its start as a charter high school within a county jail, Steve has elevated Five Keys to a groundbreaking nonprofit, supporting over 25,000 at-risk and in-risk individuals across California. We delve into his journey of transforming Five Keys into a beacon of hope for those impacted by racism, poverty, trauma, and incarceration.

With Steve at the helm, Five Keys' growth has been unprecedented, culminating in numerous accolades, including the Hart Vision Charter School of the Year and the Innovations in American Government Award from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Governance.

Today, we explore the secrets behind this growth and Steve's unique approach to leadership. We also address a pressing issue - the lack of funding for correctional education programs, despite the astronomical amounts spent on incarceration. Steve shares his insights on this topic, as well as how Five Keys creates a successful learning environment for those who have struggled in traditional settings.

Watch the Interview on The Avenue of the Strongest by ArgoPrep Channel here

Home Free’s Tammy Johnson: The personification of hope, possibility and triumph against all odds.

It was a busy morning for Tammy Johnson (formerly Cooper Garvin). Since 5:30 a.m., she was hunkered down at her computer, racing the clock to schedule clinic appointments, navigate government websites to secure I.D.’s for several residents and wading through blocks of email requests from women seeking her support from behind bars. That afternoon, Tammy promised to drive Deborah, a 73-year-old woman and new Five Keys Home Free resident to Target and the DMV.

For Deborah, the trip to Target was a thrilling possibility, one of her first outings after being released from 43 years behind bars. Tammy was determined Deborah would fulfill a decades-delayed dream to push a shopping cart down the aisles of the mega store and buy Jean Nate’ perfume and plastic ice cube trays.

As the residential Program Director of Five Keys Home Free, a Treasure Island-based trauma-informed reentry program for criminalized survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking, Tammy is on a mission every day. She says she’s determined “to let the women let themselves be free in the world.”

Nothing was going to stop her from fulfilling Deborah’s Target trek.

“I told her ‘hey girl, I don’t even know if they still sell Jean Nate’ and plastic ice cube trays are pretty old school,” said Tammy. “It’s all about bringing a little happiness to bring these women up. It can be a trip to the grocery store or for some it’s eating a favorite food. But at a deeper level it’s all about coaching them through re-entry.”

Tammy is more than just a shot in the arm for the women of Home Free. She has walked in their shoes.

Survivors and Friends: Susan Bustamante (31 years inside), now Home Free Re-entry Coach, Tammy Johnson, and Brandi Taliano, (28 years inside), now Five Keys Housing Services Site Director

Like Deborah and the other women, Tammy spent decades (28 years) in prison unjustly sentenced as an LWOP (Life Without the Possibility of Parole). Tammy was sex trafficked at age 14 and was imprisoned for 28 years for being in the car while her pimp murdered a client. Her sentence was commuted in 2018 and she was hired by Home Free as its reentry coach in February of 2021.

Her embodied experience and fierce determination to move forward with her life is combined with a commitment to reach backward to accompany other women on their journey. Her dedication speaks volumes about the second chance mission of Home Free. The six two-bedroom unit apartment complex is California’s first transitional residential facility for criminalized survivors of domestic violence, and human trafficking.  

“As soon as I met Tammy, I was blown away by her quiet strength and self-determination, her prideful spirit, her hopefulness and how she owned her humanity, which is such a paradox to the horrific injustice she has experienced,” says Sunny Schwartz, founder of Five Keys. She met Tammy for the first time during a visit to the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, CA. “Her leadership is instrumental to Home Free. She can talk about not giving up and her determination to keep growing as a person and leader are amazing.”

Steve Good, Five Keys President and CEO, Susan Bustamante, Tammy Johnson, and Sunny Schwartz, Five Keys Founder and Home Free Co-Founder

“She is the personification of hope, possibility, and triumph against all odds. Her personal struggle and determination to thrive every day comes to life through her commitment to the women of Home Free,” said Sunny.

In her role, Tammy helps Deborah and the other women residents of Home Free transition back into their new lives. She also counsels other women as they prepare for their upcoming release from the prison system after years or even decades of incarceration.

When they get out, Tammy is there to wipe away their tears. Her heart swells when she expresses gratitude for Home Free and the opportunity to help guide and walk alongside women whose lives have been locked up.

“The greatest gift I can give them is telling them to just let themselves be free, to let their freedom soak in,” said Tammy. She’s at Home Free daily from 5:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and on call 24/7. At Home Free, we really strive to make the women feel like they are at home.”

“Tammy was a person who did everything she could to educate herself and prepare for her release from prison,” said Sara Malone, who is mentoring Tammy in her role at Home Free. Sara is the former Chief of the Office of the Ombudsman, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation who worked with Tammy when she was incarcerated. “But more significantly she was committed to helping other women. She was and still is always there for others, never putting herself first. It would have been so easy to give up, but she never did, and she inspires others to always have hope. She is committed to helping others make their lives better.”

These days, Tammy also is enjoying life as a new wife to her husband, Demian, who she met working at one of Five Keys SAFE Navigation centers for unhoused persons (prior to joining Home Free). Her goal is to “laugh, to always laugh.”

Mrs. and Mr. Demien Johnson at their wedding at Home Free

“We go to a lot of comedy clubs because we both just love laughing together,” says Tammy. “Our dream is to go to Paris. And my dream for Five Keys Home Free is that we keep getting bigger so we can offer the promise of freedom to other women who are in prison and longing to be in the world.”

Tammy Johnson

Dignity Village Grand Opening Celebration Set for May 3

The City of Alameda is hosting a grand opening celebration at Dignity Village on Wednesday, May 3 at 10 a.m. – and the public is invited. Dignity Village, a two-story, 47-unit Interim Supportive Housing project at 2350 Fifth St., will provide shelter for individuals experiencing homelessness or chronic homelessness. The grand opening celebration will be at the site; please RSVP online.

Dignity Village groundbreaking ceremony, Oct 25, 2022. Photo Maurice Ramirez.

Dignity Village will be capable of serving up to 61 individuals, with five units specifically set aside for homeless youth aged between 18 to 24. Each unit measures 138 square feet and is equipped with a private, ensuite bathroom. Dignity Village will also contain additional community buildings, including a dining space, meeting rooms, private offices for support services staff, and storage for resident belongings.

People in need of housing will be referred by the Homeless Management Information System, managed by Alameda County Health Care Services Agency’s Office of Homeless Care and Coordination Coordinated Entry Program. During the initial housing placement, Alameda’s unhoused residents will be given priority.

Bird’s-eye view of the plan for Dignity Village. Image Dignity Moves.

The City led the effort to develop Dignity Village, partnering with nonprofit developer DignityMoves and onsite service provider and property manager Five Keys Schools and Programs. The City was awarded a $12.3 million grant from the State’s Homekey Program to build Dignity Village, and $2.35 million from Alameda County to cover five years of operating services.

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Criminalized Survivors of Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking Gather to Celebrate Passover Themes of Liberation, Resilience and Triumph

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, April 11, 2023 – Twenty-five women residents, staff and supporters of the Five Keys Home Free community recently gathered to share a Passover Seder and dinner, affirming they are strong and resilient people and to share their reality — their own tyranny and freedom — as women unjustly sentenced to long term prison sentences including Life Without the Possibility of Parole, life in prison. Now free and living in California’s first transitional residential facility for criminalized survivors of domestic violence, they celebrate freedom and their second chance at life.

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Sunny Schwartz, Debby Hamolsky, Kathryn Spiak, Karen Levine, Ellen Friedman, and Laura Troiani

The meal was inspired by the Passover’s spiritual message that there is the potential to break out of the enslavements of the past and to evolve with redemption, compassion and triumph.

Tiffany Holmes, Delia Ginorio, Delia Mendoza, Jennifer Trayers, Kathryn Spiak, Chalia Broudes, Debby Hamolsky, Ellen Friedman, Tammy Johnson, Demien Johnson, Susan Bustamante, Laura Troiani

“Like the Jews who were freed from slavery, tonight we celebrate your liberation from tyranny and patriarchy and are so honored and happy to be here with you,” said Karen Levine, a social justice activist, long time staff of the SF Sheriff’s Department and the Veteran’s Administration. “Mitzrayim which means the narrow place is the story of Passover — the leaving of the narrow place of slavery in Egypt, and of suffering. It is understood both literally and through the personal stories of coming to freedom, kind of like a 10 by 8 cell.”  For the women of Home Free, Karen now facilitates WomanAlive, a 52-week violence prevention course for women survivors of violence — a re-education program which helps with intimacy, communicatio skills and violence prevention.

Susan Bustamante, who spent 31 years in prison as an LWOP (lifer) before her sentence was commuted, and other women shared a rich snapshot of honesty about where they have been and where they are now. Like the Israelites liberation from slavery in ancient Egypt, the womens’ lived experiences are tales of faith and community and triumph over adversity.

“Through all the horrific abuse, I found myself hating, which I hated. It was a horrible place to be and a narrow space I didn’t belong … and this led to prison,”said Bustamante. “My healing came gradually and with my sheer will I grew enough to then get commuted, paroled, and become the advocate I am today.” Bustamante was hired by Home Free last year and is now a re-entry coach who also picks up the women

(many in Los Angeles) when they are released from prison and drives them to Home Free.

Home Free was created by Five Keys, a statewide nonprofit that provides education, vocational training, therapeutic programs, and housing for incarcerated people and the newly released. The majority of people at Home Free were originally sentenced to Life in Prison Without Parole as a result of defending their lives against domestic violence abusers. Because of a loophole in the law that has since been corrected through pioneering legislation, the survivors could not have evidence of past abuse included in their trials. The first of its kind in California, the complex of five two-bedroom apartments is the result of years of advocacy by survivors of intimate-partner violence, and organizations working with them.

The seder is just one of the many events, celebrations and gatherings that the Home Free community creates for the survivors living there and their extended community. The evening was filled with abundant homemade, traditional seder foods – from Karpas (parsley) and Baytzah (roasted egg), both symbolizing spring and rebirth to Charoset, to symbolize the mortar that the Israelite slaves used to make bricks. There was also poignant sharing and singing the ancient Hebrew song, Dayenu, a seder tradition that means “it would have been enough for us,” along with laughter and tears.

“It was a sacred evening,” said Sunny Schwartz, founder of Five Keys Home Free, a transitional housing complex on Treasure Island, which creates a vibrant, dignified, and safe home, a place that says “you are worthy.” Sunny invited longtime friends, Debby Hamolsky, Karen Levine, and Ellen Friedman to envision and revise the Haggadah and to help her cook up the meal and brought the seder home to Home Free, creating a parallel celebration of freedom. All the foods bring the story alive including traditional brisket, matzo ball soup with egg noodles, roasted carrots, mashed potatoes with not just a dash but a main ingredient of love.

Gilda Serrano, Ella, Sunny and Lauren Schwartz

From the blue plates and yellow flowers to an orange symbolizing the Jewish LGBTQ community, the table settings also told a powerful story. Dr. Susannah Hershel, the Eli M. Black Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College, initiated the idea of the orange in the 1980s. She shared the custom with her own guests, and it quickly spread to other homes, and so the orange was said to represent the inclusion of women in the Jewish ritual life.

Since 2020, 17 women have lived at Home Free. Four more women are expected this year in the coming months and 100 more women are waiting inside to come Home Free.

About Five Keys

Five Keys was founded in 2003 by the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department as the first
accredited charter high school in the nation to provide diploma programs for adults in county jails. Today Five Keys serves 30,000-plus Californians annually, spanning 14 counties in 25 county jails and over 120 teaching sites. In addition to schools,
Five Keys operates multiple homeless shelters, permanent supportive housing programs, transitional employment programs, reentry programs and housing for women suffering from immense injustice. Five Keys is a second chance employer. Our goal is to restore communities through education and other programs that respond to the students’ and community needs — which in turn creates safer communities. To visit or donate: www.fivekeyshomefree.org.

Media Contact: Sunny Schwartz (415) 819-7070

DIGNITY VILLAGE GRAND OPENING SET FOR MAY 3

Wednesday, March 22, 2023
Alameda Sun | Staff Reports

Courtesy Swinerton -- The Dignity Village supportive housing development will be ready for residents to move in after more than a year of planning and construction.

Dignity Village, the 47-unit interim supportive housing program, will host a Grand Opening event on Wednesday, May 3, at 10 am at the site, located at 2350 5th St. DignityMoves will be the project developer, the project developer, will begin moving people into the housing development sometime in April.

The plan to build a development for unhoused residents began more than a year ago. The Dignity Village concept were introduced at the Nov.16, 2021 City Council meeting, according to Alameda Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft. The City of Alameda reported on Feb. 10, 2022, it had applied for a Project Homekey Round 2 grant to receive funding to build an interim housing development for the city’s unhoused community (“https://alamedasun.com/news/city-submits-grant-application-build-develop...,” Feb. 15, 2022).

In August 2021, when there was inclination a second round of Project Homekey would be offered, the city sent out a request for proposal to local entities seeking a developer, property manager and service provider for the development. After receiving several responses, the city opted to hire DignityMoves and Five Keys Schools and Programs as partners in the project. DignityMoves is the project developer and Five Keys handles operational services.

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Connection, Hope, Purpose, and Empowerment Define Travis Rapp’s Lived Experience Reentering the Community

 “It’s the everyday things, like being able to open a door, that bring me such joy.”

Like many people who are incarcerated, Travis Rapp struggled with anger, pain, and hopelessness during the 16 years he spent in a maximum security California prison, almost a decade in isolation.

Travis was 21 when he was charged with first-degree burglary and sentenced to 15 years at Kern Valley State Prison in Delano, CA,  “designed to house the worst-behaved, most problematic,” of all the state’s inmates. For nine years, he was confined to a 6.5-foot-by-11-foot room with just a bed, sink, and toilet. Meals were served through a slot. The exercise consisted of four hours a week in a gated dog-run-like cage in the outside yard.

Fast forward to today. Travis, 37, is just two years out of prison. He’s a lead supervisor for five of Five Keys’ employment and reentry crews, (about 50 employees) rising through the ranks from his first job on the CAL Crew, which works to repair, remove litter, control vegetation, repair storm damage and erosion and other highway beautification projects in Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Joaquin counties. He clocks in at 6:45 a.m. and out at 3:15 overseeing worker safety, the vans, hiring, data sheets, payroll and recruiting.

“Travis is a natural leader, a standup guy who is also humble and was not afraid to start at the bottom and work his way up,” said Jalonn Harrison, Assistant Director/Transitional Work Programs for Five Keys. “He’s stepped up to every opportunity and given his best.  He’s an amazing role model for all that a person can make it through anything. He’s all about the power of hard work and determination.”

In February he was released from parole.

Travis is married to Lenna, a hairstylist, who shares his passion for trekking through California highways on weekends on their motorcycles. They live in an apartment in West Los Angeles with their two cats, Brodie, and Bob Cat, and have a bucket list of travel plans from Greece to Japan, to France and around the globe. 

The first place he and his wife went upon his release from prison: The Claim Jumper restaurant “for a big old juicy steak.” He’s proud to say he’s taken up cooking, “mostly steaks,” he admits.

“But it’s the everyday things, like being able to open a door, that bring me such joy.”

His new adventure is all about taking risks and creating a dream life. But he doesn’t forget the suffering and longing that defined his years in prison.

As the years rolled by in prison, Travis was visited by the prison chaplain three times, each to tell him about the death of one of his grandparents. 

Travis studied and earned his General Educational Development (GED) degree, classes in Excel and Microsoft, trade school auto mechanics certificate, soaked up as much history as possible, books about Napoléon, the Saxons and jotted down motivational quotes that became his lifeline and guiding light:  “You gain strength through struggle,” and “In prosperity, our friends know us; in adversity, we know our friends.”

“I was a lifelong troublemaker who knew I had to turn my life around and that moving forward, the key would be who I surround myself with, he said.

Travis says he just kept telling himself: “Push forward, you can’t let it break you. Work, just work.”

Never underestimate the power of community.

In 2022, Travis was transferred into Los Angeles’ Male Community Reentry Program (MCRP), a reentry multi-tenant apartment complex that provides programs and tools necessary to transition from custody to community. Monitored with an ankle bracelet, Travis discovered Five Keys and its innovative transitional employment program.

His break was being hired by Five Keys on the Cal Crew. Through the Five Keys Transitional Employment and Reentry programs, people like Travis receive robust support to help them find permanent employment, progress along educational pathways, or enroll in progressive job training. Job readiness workshops, reentry support, access to high school completion, and hosted resource groups are provided.

“Travis is an extraordinary leader in that he takes the initiative to do things he sees need to be done instead of waiting for someone to suggest it,” said Dave Bates, VP of Transitional Employment & Reentry. “Travis forecasts what needs to be done and he gets it done. That is what you want in a leader.”

These days Travis is also passionate about giving back, reaching out to help others “get the second chance I did.”

There is a sorrow that continues to burrow in his heart. His best buddy in prison, a forty-something guy named Christophe, is sentenced to life without parole. “We were in solitary together and could only talk between the walls,” says Travis. “These days I can call and write him, but it’s hard because I am out and there is a guilt there and sadness. He got me through so much and is my best friend. Isn’t it weird, I have a best friend I never got to even shake hands with and probably never will. It’s rough. I feel very remorseful.”

Success Story: Five Keys Cal Crew Stockton partnered with Senator Susan Talamantes Eggman

Five Keys Cal Crew Stockton partnered with Senator Susan Talamantes Eggman, Volunteering at the San Joaquin Community Food Drive

Dignity Village Groundbreaking Ceremony

Maurice Ramirez, Alamedapost.com
Posted Nov 7, 2022, at 7:50 am PT

On October 25, 2022, the City of Alameda held a ceremony to celebrate breaking ground for construction of Dignity Village on Fifth Street. City Council authorized the project in a 4-1 vote on April 5, with Councilmember Trish Herrera Spencer voting against. The City of Alameda is sponsoring the project. $2,555,844 in operational funding and $9,225,536 for the development of the project is coming from the State of California (State) through the Housing and Community Development Department (HCD), and another $2,654,622 in capitalized operational reserves sourced from the Alameda County Housing and Community Development Department. The City is also contributing $10,855,995 towards the development and operations of this project.

Dignity Village will be administered by two organizations. DignityMoves, is serving as the project development manager. Five Keys Schools and Programs will serve as the onsite social service provider and property manager. The complex consists of a two-story shelter, a three-story shelter, an administration building, a community building, community gardens, a pet area, and 27 parking spaces. When it is completed, the center will house up to 61 individuals and couples in 47 units. Dignity Village will serve the homeless, chronically homeless, and homeless youth.

Read the Full Article on Alameda Post