CA set to cut Freedom Project, aimed at reducing mass incarceration

Mission Local
by Griffin Jones
May 30, 2024, 11:08 am

The Freedom Project, a first-of-its-kind program, has helped 88 people, with 500 still waiting

Left to right: Tammy Garvin, Belinda Anderson and Jamesetta Guy at Tuesday's Freedom Project luncheon. All were housed at Chowchilla for several decades.

On Tuesday afternoon, in a bright restaurant facing Aquatic Cove, a group of women in their 60s listened to each other, engrossed. 

“I was afraid to start a stove — I hadn’t done it in so long,” said Sally Johnson. “I thought I was gonna blow the house up!”

“I hadn’t walked up stairs in 32 years,” said Belinda Anderson, nodding so her long, purple braids shook. “When I started walking up them, I thought, ‘Oh, Lord, I’m out of breath!’” They laughed. 

For 32 years, Anderson, a Bayview native, was serving a life sentence without parole in Chowchilla, a women’s prison in the Central Valley that is entirely ground-level. Johnson, a transgender woman, got out of prison this past November after serving almost 40 years. The two were at a luncheon with around 25 other San Franciscans who had committed crimes in their youth and went on to serve decades behind bars.

Both were released in 2022, thanks to the Freedom Project, a program established in 2020 by the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office that reexamines the cases of prisoners booked in the county. If certain criteria are met, attorneys will recommend a reduction in someone’s sentence, returning the case to the courts.

As of today, 88 people have been able to return home since the Freedom Project launched. There are around 500 people to go, said Danielle Harris, the project’s managing attorney. 

But now, their futures are in limbo: For the second year in a row, Governor Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget axes the Public Defense Pilot Program, the three-year state grant funding the Freedom Project. 

Counties around the state welcomed this grant as a godsend. Notably, it’s the first of its kind for the state’s public defenders, many of whom have far lower budgets than their counterparts in the district attorney’s office.

Statewide, the Freedom Project is a slim .014 percent of the state’s budget, which is one reason Harris and her team are holding out hope that a last-minute outpouring of support could protect the Public Defense Pilot Program before the June 15 deadline.

This morning, California’s legislature returned their budget revision to the governor, which includes preserving, at least in part, some of the program’s funding. Newsom will now review it and either accept or reject their changes June 15. 

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Second Chance Program Offers Former Prison Inmate New Lease on Life - A story of hope and pushing others forward

Before he graduated high school this May through Five Keys Charter Schools,  Joseph Riddlesperger, 27, spent most of his teen years “catching cases.”  Bounced from juvenile hall to foster homes, he was kicked out of high school. Eventually he ended up incarcerated for almost four years. The collateral consequences of a trauma-filled upbringing led him to multiple convictions for vehicle theft, DUI, drug possession, stealing cars, and evading the law.

Graduation day at the Southeast Community Center in San Francisco on June 7, 2024.

After being released from prison and moving in with an uncle, Joseph couldn’t break the cycle and found himself facing another five-year stint in prison. 

But providence stepped in through an emotional prison visit from his mother and a surprise offer from a judge who told him “You are the worst possible candidate for a drug program.” At his sentencing hearing, the judge offered Joseph a second chance to turn his life around:  The deal: wave prison time and attend a two-year bootcamp-style program, The Jericho Project in Brisbane, CA. 

 “My lifestyle was getting high and catching cases, not a very productive member of society,” says Joseph. “I was always self-sabotaging. But then my mother came to the prison to visit me and it got me. She was crying saying she couldn’t survive one more night waiting for a phone call and wondering if I was going to make it home. She told me how I had once been the role model for my nieces and nephews. But my13-year-old nephew said I wasn’t anymore. That is when I felt I lost everything. I didn’t want to be that guy. I want to be better than that.” 

Enter the Jericho Project, a humane alternative to prison that provides treatment and training to chemically dependent former offenders who are committed to recovery rehabilitation. There, men like Joseph receive housing, treatment, education, physical training, social development and vocational training so they can become productive and successful members of society again. It’s a tough haul. Newbies are not allowed calls or any contact with family members for 90 days. 

“Joseph’s one of the ‘lucky’ ones, he got two years here, when most of us just get one,” says Matt Jones, intake director for Jericho, who is a graduate of the program where 70 men including Joseph currently live. “I say that sarcastically because 60 percent of the men don’t make it through one year here. But Joseph is close to completing two years, a very strict sentence. The way Joseph has turned himself around has been a major pillar in my own recovery and growth. He has become a leader helping the new men who arrive here and they respect him because they know he gets where they have been.” 

Months away from completing the Jericho program, Joseph works daily as a warehouse manager as a diesel mechanic. After hours, he is a personal trainer at Jericho.

Jericho Project’s educational curriculum is a key component of treatment, crucial to assisting clients like Joseph in developing into a functional, self-reliant individual. The partnership with Five Keys Charter Schools is key to that transformation. 

Joseph says his high school graduation was a monumental event he never could have imagined. To support him, his supervisor from work attended the ceremony. “It meant the world to me to have him there,” says Joseph. 

Joseph receives his diploma. It’s official.

Like it’s biblical metaphor, the Jericho Project invites and challenges former offenders like Joseph who often are considered society’s throw aways to get and be better, to achieve what seems impossible to others.

Joseph’s gratefulness for his Five Keys teacher, Tanya Kennedy, doesn’t even scratch the surface of what he says she has done to guide him through the challenging classroom. 

“She is so full of life and spent so much time giving me extra help in class,” says Joseph. “I had such a hard time with economics, but she spent so much time breaking it down in details until I got it.” 

The respect is mutual. 

“Joseph is an inspiration for a lot of people,” says Five Keys’ teacher Kennedy, who works onsite at Jericho. “Like many of the men he didn’t have the greatest upbringing, yet he doesn’t hold grudges and is very grateful for his renewed relationship with his family. He is up for any challenge and is a shining example of someone who has persevered and pushed through tremendous hardship to do better every day. He has become like a third son to me.” 

Tanya Kennedy and Joseph

Joseph is keenly aware of the tremendous opportunity The Jericho Project and Five Keys are giving him to break free of his past and work hard toward a new life where he will flourish and grow. The U.S. prison system is based on punishment. The problem is, it doesn’t work — more than half of people released from prison are back within three years, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

What’s ahead? Joseph hopes to flip his high school diploma into a college degree, and wants to become an electrical mechanic.  
“I want to set an example for my family and the other men here, become a role model and a productive citizen,” says Joseph. 

Despite the barriers that society has in place, and continues to reinforce, Joseph says he and Matt are proof that you can lead a positive life after prison. He shares his experience with the young men entering the Jericho program.

About The Jericho Project

Jericho Project was established in 1995 as a structured, residential treatment program for recovery from substance abuse and criminal behavior. The primary objective is recovery through development of the mind, body, and spirit. The program facilities include several of our state-licensed private residential facilities and our outpatient treatment center. Jericho Project's first phase housing includes two residential houses. The houses are designed for newcomers who have been in the program less than three months. Our second phase housing consists of our 18-unit apartment complex. The apartment complex is designed to accommodate senior members. Our third phase housing consists of our 11-unit apartment complex designed for the alumni in our aftercare program. All residential housing is supervised by senior staff members. Our outpatient treatment center contains large open rooms for members to conduct treatment meetings, educational/ vocational classes, warehousing/forklift certification classes, corporate offices, and professional gym, which is designed to promote a healthy lifestyle. The center is central to the program's structure, training, and activities.

Bringing Rhyme and Reason to Make a Difference for the Five Keys Community

Spotlight on Dorick Scarpelli, VP of College, Career, and Reentry Pathways

To write poetry is to be vulnerable, to feel free. To trust the people around you.

Teaching literature and lyric art in a jail, an underworld environment designed around confinement and censorship, was perhaps the least likely place Dorick Scarpelli envisioned his future.

But in 2003, that’s exactly what the transplanted Massachusetts-born-and-raised 20-something guy found himself doing when he met a “very passionate” woman named Sunny Schwartz (founder of Five Keys). “I remembered going into my interview at the Sherriff’s Office and was so moved by her powerful vision and passion around launching a restorative justice program.”

“Would he consider joining on,” she asked.

Armed with a Master’s in Fine Arts from Goddard College and an Ivy League fellow and undergrad from Brown University, within a month, Dorick found himself designing lesson plans. He’d done some work previously as a creative writing instructor for teens inside a juvenile detention facility. But after moving with his brother to San Francisco, he was ready to get serious about being a changemaker.

As Five Keys launched its first schools for the incarcerated, Dorick rolled in a chalk board, planted himself in the center of the dorm pod at San Francisco’s former County Jail #2 Annex on Bryant Street and went to work. There, in a place meant to contain them, he encouraged female inmates to channel their emotions into poetry. Later he taught at the men’s dorm in San Bruno.

Maybe it was the culture code, the prevailing resistance to education among the deputies, or witnessing up-close what he calls “not exactly humane treatment.” Certainly, the wounds of the criminal justice system have played a major role in propelling and reinforcing Dorick’s lifelong calling to right social justice wrongs and his steadfast devotion to helping the wounded and traumatized find their voice. 

Fast-forward 20 years. Today, as VP of College, Career, and Reentry Pathways for Five Keys, Dorick walks with people from setback to comeback. Wearing many hats, he manages government and private contracts and partnerships throughout northern California and the Los Angeles area that support workforce development and college pathways for Five Keys students. He supervised Five Keys’ mobile classroom program and re-entry programs, along with Five Keys Home Free, a Treasure Island-based trauma-informed reentry program for criminalized survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking. He has also served as one of the executive sponsors of Five Keys’ Abide Council (Advancing Belonging, Inclusion, Diversity and Equity).

“Dorick is definitely one of the driven changemakers,” says Karen Levine, a social justice activist, and former program coordinator at the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department who joined forces and has served alongside Sunny and founders since the very beginning. Currently she runs WomanAlive, a violence prevention course for the women of Home Free, survivors of violence. “Dorick has his finger on the pulse of the program and does everything to support it and to help provide the resources for the women to re-educate and gain vital communication and intimacy skills to prevent violence in their lives again.”

Dorick Scarpelli (pictured left) at the Five Keys NorCal Class of ’24 graduation

Dorick’s most celebrated role is dad to Arlo, 11, and Teddy, 9, and husband to wife Lauren Dietz, who is currently studying geriatrics at UCSF to become a Nurse Practitioner. Both Lauren and Dorick are active managers for the boys’ soccer teams and during their “free time,” enjoy backpacking and getting out into nature with family time.

Growing up one of seven children, Dorick’s passion for racial justice and serving the underserved began in childhood. The strong faith of both his parents and Catholic social thought served as a guiding light. His father was a career educator and administrator in the public school system in Rockland, supporting students in a small working-class community and his mother was committed to helping others as a social worker.

“What I love about Five Keys is how innovative and tireless everyone is about changing intolerable social justice problems,” says Dorick. “Everyone is not afraid to experiment, to innovate and everyone really, really cares. What I love too is working with people who have turned their lives around, people who remind us that there is always hope, that we all deserve second chances.”

 Dorick Scarpelli (pictured right) at the Five Keys 20th Anniversary Celebration on October 26, 2023

Dorick formerly was a Senior Advisor for the New York City Office of Mayor, Health & Human Services, and Center for Economic Opportunity, winner of the 2012 Harvard Kennedy School’s Innovations in Government Award, and the Young Men’s Initiative (YMI).

He was an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, teaching “Criminal Justice Systems and the Impact on Communities.” He also directed a re-entry program that serves young adults involved in the criminal justice system in the Bronx and Harlem.

These days, Dorick says he is inspired daily by the women who run and live at Home Free.

Tammy Johnson and Sunny Schwartz at Home Free

“I think of Tammy (Johnson, residential program director) and how inspiring her lived experience is,” says Dorick. “It is a privilege to work with colleagues who remind me every day to never give up. They show me the value of hard work and a commitment to doing the right thing. And, I think of Sunny (Schwartz), my mentor who reminds me that we are obligated to push back against the injustices in society and that it is our responsibility to work to change them.”

Classical music composition class enriches Bay Area jail

A new classical music composition program has changed the lives of a number of inmates serving time at a Bay Area jail. They recently gathered to listen to performances of pieces they composed themselves, after completing their classes at the Sonoma County Main Adult Detention Facility. KTVU's Heather Holmes speaks with retired Correctional Lieutenant Liana Whisler and Program Manager Sergeant Jennifer Aicega about how the class came about and what it aims to accomplish.

View The Video Here

Mission district tiny-homes project opens follow months-long debate

By James Salazar | Examiner staff writer

Sixty new tiny homes opened in the Mission district Monday as part of The City’s efforts to expand temporary shelter for unhoused individuals.

Located at 1979 Mission St., the cabins can accommodate up to 68 people, depending on the number of couples. Each home has a locking door, a bed, storage space, furniture, outlets and heating. Hygiene facilities, a dining area and a common area are also included, while residents will be provided access to meals, case management and health services through a partnership with the Department of Public Health.

“We want people indoors, where it’s safe and where they can get on the path to a more secure, long-term housed environment," Mayor London Breed said in a release. “That’s how we end homelessness for people who need help and it’s how we prevent long-term encampments in our neighborhoods.”

Five Keys Schools and Programs, founded by the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department in 2003 to provide diploma programs for adults in county jails, will operate the site and provide on-site social services. The project will cost an estimated $2 million a year to run, according to the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing.

Mission Cabins is the second cluster of tiny homes built for the unhoused in San Francisco; it comes after 70 cabins were set up at 33 Gough St. in March 2022. After two years, the homes at the Mission site will be taken down and a long-term affordable-housing project will be built in the neighborhood, creating up to roughly 350 new homes.

In a statement, District 9 Supervisor Hillary called the homelessness crisis the “biggest problem facing our city.”

Mission Cabins are the second such row of tiny homes in San Francisco, having been modeled after the 70 cabins set up at 33 Gough St. in March 2022.

Courtesy San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing

“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,” she said. “I believe these cabins will improve many individual lives as well as street conditions in the Mission.”

Ronen threw her support behind the project in the fall after the proposal guaranteed that full-time staff would keep the space clean and safe.

Officials said that The City has expanded shelter capacity by more than 60% since 2018, with 3,900 beds already available and more expected to come online soon. San Francisco has helped more than 15,000 individuals permanently exit homelessness in the last five years, homelessness officials said.

City officials first proposed the Mission district’s tiny homes project in 2022 but faced pushback amid neighborhood concerns. The site’s proximity to the playground at Marshall Elementary School and the kinds of residents it could support were sources of contention.

To address safety concerns, two sets of fencing and storage lockers separate the site from Marshall Elementary’s playground, while there is also one check-in entrance on Mission Street that comes with security cameras.

“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,” said Shireen McSpadden, executive director of the San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, in a statement.

Tiny ‘Mission Cabins’ for homeless residents open today at 16th St. BART Plaza

Mission Cabins at 1979 Mission Street. Photo by Xueer Lu. April 10, 2024.

by XUEER LU
APRIL 15, 2024, 6:00 AM

Mission Cabins, a two-year homeless-shelter project offering 60 tiny homes to adults experiencing homelessness, will open its doors this morning to residents at 1979 Mission St., next to the northeastern 16th Street BART Plaza. 

The project will house up to 68 adults. Sitting on a 24,000-square-foot parking lot surrounded by eight-foot-tall black wire fences, the cabin village features 52 65-square-foot single rooms and eight 78-square-foot double rooms for couples. The rooms for couples sit on the east side of the site. 

Deborah Bouck, communications and community engagement lead at the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, said that the program is invitation-only, and will not accept walk-ins or applications. The site’s service provider, the nonprofit Five Keys Schools and Programs, and the department’s homeless outreach program aim to move in five people a day until the cabins are all occupied. 

One of the three sitting areas in between rows of rooms. Photo by Xueer Lu. April 10, 2024.

Two wooden steps lead into each cabin. Each room has a lock on the door and a window. The inside is furnished with a  single or double bed with pink or dark gray bedding, a bath towel and a three-drawer cabinet in the corner. A potted plant sits atop the cabinet, and along the wall is an air-conditioning unit with a light above it. 

Guests are allowed to bring in their own possessions, and can put their belongings in one of five shared storage units if they require the extra space.

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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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San Diego NGOs Assist Ex-Offenders in Reentering the Workforce.

Ex-Offender Being Released by Police
Photo by: Perry Eastman

Written by Perry Eastman
Published on News Break

California has a recidivism rate of 46%, indicating that many individuals who have served time in prison return to jail or prison. However, numerous San Diego County charitable organizations are providing resources to help break free from this cycle and enter the workforce.

Nonprofit organizations offer various services to help individuals overcome work barriers and transition into society, such as job training and mentoring programs.

Tracy Holt, a former prisoner, emphasizes the importance of employment for success and reducing California's high recidivism rate.

Holt is responsible for maintaining highways, landscaping, and trash abatement, as well as serving as a backup driver.

Holt, a Navy veteran, has successfully reintegrated into society through San Diego's Five Keys Schools and Programs, which offer transitional jobs to ex-offenders.

Holt, who was released from jail after 20 years, faced significant challenges in finding work after being released. He emphasized the importance of a job, stating that his chances of returning to jail are higher without one.

The Five Keys Schools and Programs, in partnership with eighteen other nonprofit partners in San Diego County, provide temporary employment to individuals who have been out of the workforce for a long time or have a background in the education system, helping them find permanent employment or rejoin the education system.

The San Diego Workforce Partnership and other organizations are collaborating to offer comprehensive services to individuals who have served time behind bars, highlighting the importance of workforce partnerships in the community and economy.

The California Workforce Development Board has awarded a $5 million grant to the San Diego Workforce Program, aimed at providing job programs through reentry works services. Young stated that these individuals are capable of completing the task and deserve our support and assistance.

According to Young, the award will enable the nonprofit organization and its local partners to provide transformative services to people such as Tracy.

Tracy exemplifies our values, and we have the tools to support individuals like him in making significant changes in their own lives and others.

Young highlights Tracy's story as a testament to the transformative power of organizations like the San Diego Workforce Partnership and Back 2 Work, while Holt emphasizes the importance of available resources for success. Tracy is pursuing a commercial driver's license to secure a permanent, full-time position.

Rocio De La Fe contributed to this Article.

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San Diego nonprofits help formerly incarcerated people reintegrate into workforce

Posted on: CBS8
Author: Rocio De La Fe
Published: 9:17 AM PST February 24, 2024
Updated: 9:17 AM PST February 24, 2024

Through their partnership, the organizations combine their resources to provide wrap-around services tailored to the needs of formerly incarcerated people.

SAN DIEGO — The most recent state report shows California’s recidivism rate is at around 46%, that’s the rate that former incarcerated individuals find themselves back in jail. 

Several nonprofits in San Diego County are helping many people break that cycle by equipping them with the tools they need to reenter the workforce.

From job training to mentorship programs, these nonprofit organizations offer a wide range of services to break down barriers to employment and help create a smooth transition back into society.

“A job is a key element in success and not becoming a statistic of the recidivism rate that California has," said Tracy Holt, who has rejoined the workforce after serving time in prison.

Holt now works as a backup driver and also spends his time performing litter abatement, highway maintenance, and landscaping.

Holt, a Navy veteran, has successfully reintegrated into society thanks to the support of San Diego’s Five Keys Schools and Programs, which offers transitional employment to formerly incarcerated individuals.

After serving two decades in prison, Holt says he faced significant barriers to employment after his release.

“There’s always the uncertainty of what’s going to be next. And a job is the most important. Without a job your odds and chances of going back are greater than if you have the stability," said Holt.

The Five Keys Schools and Programs works closely with a network of 18 other nonprofit partners in San Diego County, including Back 2 Work and the San Diego Workforce Partnership.

“It’s very difficult when you have been out of the workforce for x amount of years or even have a background," said Kimberly Castillo, with Back 2 Work. "We support in providing essentially a temporary employment while they look for permanent employment or rejoin the education system."

Through their partnership, the organizations combine their resources to provide comprehensive wrap-around services tailored to the needs of formerly incarcerated people.

“The workforce partnership is very important when it comes to the vitality of our economy and our community," said Tony Young, Interim President and CEO, San Diego Workforce Partnership.

Recently, the San Diego Workforce Program received a nearly $5 million grant from the California Workforce Development Board. The money aims to bolster employment services through its reentry works services.

“We want to support these individuals and they have all the ability to do the work. They just need our support," said Young.

Young says the grant will further help the nonprofit and its regional partners to provide life-changing services to individuals like Tracy.

“Tracy really embodies what we’re about. We have resources to help individuals like Tracy really make a different not only in his life but in the lives of others," he added.

Young says Tracy’s story serves as a testament to the transformative impact organizations like Back 2 Work and San Diego Workforce Partnership can have.

“It made all the difference in the world there’s no way that I could’ve made it without the resources that was made available to me," said Holt.

Tracy is currently working to obtain his commercial driver’s license which will help him take the next steps into a full-time, permanent career.

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After controversy, Mission’s tiny homes to open early April at 16th St. BART plaza

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.”

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