City Government

Mayor Breed Announces Acquisition of 2 Buildings for People With Mental Health, Substance Use Disorders

Located in the Mission and South of Market neighborhoods, the buildings will provide space for 26 adults to live in a community setting with access to care, services, and treatment

Published

4 years ago

October 4, 2021

Isabelle Price

An aerial view from Golden Gate Park looking across the Avenues to the Presidio and Golden Gate Bridge just as the sun begins to set. Golden shadows across the row houses of San Francisco

Mayor London N. Breed and the San Francisco Department of Public Health announced on October 1 the acquisition of two buildings that will house people living with mental health and substance use disorders as part of the City’s long-term plan to strengthen and expand access to behavioral health support.

The two buildings, located on Florida Street in the Mission and Dore Street in the South of Market neighborhood, will be transformed into cooperative housing for 26 adults under the City’s Cooperative Living for Mental Health (CLMH) Program.

The cooperative living model created under CLMH is a key part of San Francisco’s work to provide housing and care for people with mental health and substance use disorders. Cooperative living allows people with mental health and substance use disorders to live in community with access to care, services, and treatment in spaces operated by local behavioral health service providers.

The model can also assist in progress to independent living. Purchasing cooperative living buildings shields these spaces from market volatility, protecting clients and allowing the City’s community-based organization partners to continue to offer much needed affordable housing.

“These buildings are part of our long-term strategy to transform how we deliver support for those living with mental health and substance use challenges,” said Breed. “We are focusing on a whole range of solutions that cover everything from improving street outreach to providing safe, supportive housing for our most vulnerable residents. This is all part of our commitment to create a safer, healthier San Francisco for all.”

In addition to these purchases that ensure the long-term affordability of existing beds, San Francisco is adding 400 new treatment beds for people experiencing mental health and substance use challenges. This represents a 20% increase in the City’s residential treatment capacity. In 2021 alone, San Francisco will see 140 new beds opened, including the following:

The 20-bed SOMA RISE Center, which will open this winter as part of the City’s response to the drug overdose crisis. It will offer a safe indoor space for people who have used methamphetamine or other substances, monitor their health while intoxicated, and connecting them with other health and social services.
A 10-bed residential treatment facility specifically designed to treat young adults with serious mental health and/or substance use disorders is under design.
Neighborhood-based psychiatric respite facilities for people experiencing homelessness to shelter in a safe, supportive environment where they can also access ongoing care.

Nonprofit supportive housing and behavioral health care provider Conard House will own and operate the two CLMH properties on Florida and Dore Streets in partnership with the City’s Department of Public Health (DPH). Established in 1960 with the first transitional housing program in San Francisco, Conard House operates and provides social services at nine residential hotels and 19 private apartments across San Francisco, inclusive of the Florida and Dore Street locations.

“Establishing sustainable, viable and cost-effective housing opportunities for people living with serious mental health challenges is what these acquisitions represent and what we want to expand in San Francisco. Cooperative housing offers long-term solutions and alternatives to inpatient treatment, incarceration and homelessness. With public-private partnerships and initiatives like CLMH, we can ensure that everyone has a place to call home in San Francisco,” said Anne Quaintance, executive director of Conard House.

“Cooperative housing is a critical part of behavioral health services for people with serious mental health and substance use disorders. Mayor Breed’s commitment to preserve cooperative living spaces, as well as open 400 new treatment and care beds across San Francisco, addresses people’s psychiatric needs as well as their housing needs, which are both vital to achieving health and recovery,” said Director of Health Dr. Grant Colfax. “With the purchases at Florida and Dore Streets, DPH is pleased to continue our partnership with Conard House and continue to offer supportive housing for some of our residents most in need.”

The proposed residence at 1140-1142 Florida Street is located in the Mission District and will house eight adults in separate bedrooms, with access to shared kitchens, bathrooms, and a large backyard.

The proposed residence at 139-145 Dore Street in San Francisco’s South of Market (SoMa) neighborhood will consist of six, 3-bedroom apartments that will accommodate 18 adults. In both locations, residents will have individual bedrooms but will share common spaces. Conard House will provide services and case management to residents to ensure success living in their new homes.

“Congratulations to Conard House for taking on these first two cooperative living sites for people with chronic mental illness,” said Supervisor Hillary Ronen, who authored the CLMH legislation in 2019. “One of the most glaring gaps in our response to mental illness is the lack of housing options for people exiting residential treatment programs. For many people who are dealing with a combination of psychiatric and addiction issues, the key to stability and success is to be away from larger, sometimes hectic living situations that can trigger continued crises. Cooperative living can open the door to stability and serenity in their lives. These two properties mark a great step forward addressing our mental health crisis.”

“Any effective response to the crisis on our streets will require us to create more appropriate placements for unsheltered people with significant behavioral health needs,” said Supervisor Rafael Mandelman. “The Cooperative Living Opportunities for Mental Health Program is one innovative housing model for getting sick people off the streets into care. Bravo to Mayor Breed and Supervisor Ronen for their leadership; we need many more such facilities, in my district and across the city.”

“The City’s Cooperative Living Mental Health program fills a critical gap in providing housing for those struggling with mental health and substance use disorders,” said Supervisor Matt Haney. “This is an opportunity to help stabilize some of our most vulnerable residents, provide onsite care, and prevent homelessness. My district in particular has suffered from the lack of appropriate responses and solutions to the mental health and substance use crises we are seeing on our streets. This program is a key component in finally addressing these issues.”

The acquisitions and most rehabilitations planned for each site were financed by the San Francisco Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF). The Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development expects to provide HAF with permanent financing for the buildings in 2022 following the completion of repair improvements and upgrades.

“We created the Housing Accelerator Fund to make sure the City and its partners were able to quickly access the resources they need to implement innovative, impactful solutions like the CLMH program,” said HAF’s CEO Rebecca Foster. “We look forward to continuing to work with the City and housing providers like Conard House to connect more residents to supportive homes.”

For the latest update on San Francisco’s residential care and treatment expansion, go to: sf.gov/residential-care-and-treatment.

Isabelle Price

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Activism

IN MEMORIAM: Nate Holden, State Senator and Longtime Los Angeles Councilmember, Dies at 95

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn described Holden as “a lion” in the State Senate and a force to be reckoned with on the Los Angeles City Council.” Hahn added that she learned a lot working with Holden when she was a new councilmember.

Published

4 days ago

May 19, 2025

Oakland Post

Former Los Angeles Councilmember and California State Sen. Nate Holden. File photo.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

Former Los Angeles City Councilmember Nathaniel “Nate” Holden, a prominent figure in the city’s politics, passed away at the age of 95, his family confirmed on May 7.

Holden, who represented South Los Angeles for 16 years on the City Council and served one term in the California State Senate, was widely regarded as a forceful advocate for his community.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn described Holden as “a lion” in the State Senate and a force to be reckoned with on the Los Angeles City Council.”

Hahn added that she learned a lot working with Holden when she was a new councilmember.

Holden’s journey to political prominence began in the segregated South, where he was born in Macon, Georgia, in 1929. He often recalled the childhood moment when he first heard the governor of Georgia vowing to continue suppressing Black people.

“Doing the best you can for the people. Law and order. Make sure that people’s communities are safe. I did it all,” said Holden, reflecting on his legacy.

Holden is survived by his sons, including former California Assemblymember Chris Holden, who represented a district in Southern California that includes Pasadena and Altadena in Los Angeles County and cities in San Bernardino County.

Oakland Post

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Activism

Oakland Hosts Town Hall Addressing Lead Hazards in City Housing

According to the city, there are 22,000 households in need of services for lead issues, most in predominantly low-income or Black and Latino neighborhoods, but only 550 to 600 homes are addressed every year. The city is hoping to use part of the multimillion-dollar settlement to increase the number of households served each year.

Published

5 days ago

May 18, 2025

Oakland Post

iStock.

By Magaly Muñoz

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department hosted a town hall in the Fruitvale to discuss the efforts being undertaken to remove lead primarily found in housing in East and West Oakland.

In 2021, the city was awarded $14 million out of a $24 million legal settlement from a lawsuit against paint distributors for selling lead-based paint that has affected hundreds of families in Oakland and Alameda County. The funding is intended to be used for lead poisoning reduction and prevention services in paint only, not water or other sources as has been found recently in schools across the city.

The settlement can be used for developing or enhancing programs that abate lead-based paint, providing services to individuals, particularly exposed children, educating the public about hazards caused by lead paint, and covering attorney’s fees incurred in pursuing litigation.

Most of the homes affected were built prior to 1978, and 12,000 of these homes are considered to be at high risk for lead poisoning.

City councilmember Noel Gallo, who represents a few of the lead-affected Census tracts, said the majority of the poisoned kids and families are coming directly from neighborhoods like the Fruitvale.

“When you look at the [kids being admitted] at the children’s hospital, they’re coming from this community,” Gallo said at the town hall.

In order to eventually rid the highest impacted homes of lead poisoning, the city intends to create programs and activities such as lead-based paint inspections and assessments, full abatement designed to permanently eliminate lead-based paint, or partial abatement for repairs, painting, and specialized cleaning meant for temporary reduction of hazards.

In feedback for what the city could implement in their programming, residents in attendance of the event said they want more accessibility to resources, like blood testing, and information from officials about lead poisoning symptoms, hotlines for assistance, and updates on the reduction of lead in their communities.

Attendees also asked how they’d know where they are on the prioritization list and what would be done to address lead in the water found at several school sites in Oakland last year.

City staff said there will be a follow-up event to gather more community input for programming in August, with finalizations happening in the fall and a pilot launch in early 2026.

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

Oakland Begins Month-Long Closure on Largest Homeless Encampment

At 8 a.m. sharp, city workers began piling up trash and dismantling makeshift homes along the nearly five-block encampment. City crews blocked off streets from 14th Ave to 17th Ave, between E. 12th and International Blvd, due to the Safe Work Zone Ordinance that was passed by the city council in 2022 to protect workers from harassment during cleanings, according to a city spokesperson.

Published

5 days ago

May 18, 2025

Oakland Post

The City of Oakland began sweeping their largest homeless encampment on E 12th St. Monday morning. Advocates claim that the city has not done its due diligence with providing ample resources or outreach for residents at the encampment. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

By Magaly Muñoz

The City of Oakland began a three-week-long breakdown of the largest homeless encampment in the city on E. 12th Street on Monday morning. Residents and advocates said they are devastated about the displacement of dozens of people.

Jaz Colibri, one of the many advocates at the closure, said the encampment sweeps were “intense and terrifying” to witness. They claimed that several residents, many of them non-English speakers, had not been aware that the sweep was happening that day because of a lack of proper communication and outreach from Oakland.

Colibri added that the city had done a Census “many months ago” and “had not bothered to count people since then”, meaning dozens of individuals have missed out on housing and resources in the last few weeks because the city doesn’t offer outreach in multiple languages.

“Basically, [Oakland] dropped the ball on actually getting to know everybody who lives here and then creating a housing solution that meets everyone’s needs,” Colibri said.

City spokesperson Jean Walsh told the Post that notices of the closure operation were posted in Spanish and Chinese prior to Monday, but did not clarify if outreach was done in those languages as well.

Nearly a dozen Oakland police vehicles, California Highway Patrol officers, and Oakland Public Works staff were gathered along E 12th waiting for residents to pack up their belongings and move away from the area.

Advocates said residents “felt unsafe” due to the hefty law enforcement presence.

One city worker, who was picking up debris near 16th Ave, said, “They’ve known we were coming for a long time now” in reference to resident confusion about the sweeping.

The state doubled down on its requirement to get cities and counties to deal with their homelessness crisis at a press conference Monday afternoon. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office released a “model ordinance” that is intended to provide a starting point that local municipalities can use to build from and adjust in creating their own policies on encampments, if they haven’t done so yet.

Newsom said “No more excuses, time to deliver” after the state has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into solving the issue.

Oakland was awarded a $7.2 million grant from the state in 2024 to close long-standing encampments in the city, including camps at Martin Luther King, Jr. and 23rd Street, and Mosswood Park.

Residents at these encampments were offered wraparound supportive services, temporary shelter, and eventually will be transitioned to permanent supportive housing, according to a city statement from last year.

Residents who accepted housing at these three encampments were moved into newly acquired property, formerly the Extended Stay America Hotel in West Oakland, which will first serve as interim housing for up to 150 individuals and couples in 105 units, and in the coming year, will be converted into 125 units of permanent housing.

Walsh said as of May 2, “32 residents of the recently closed Mosswood Park encampment moved into the Mandela House program” and as of May 12, “41 residents of the East 12th Street encampment have already accepted offers to move to the Mandela House.” The city will provide final numbers of how many accepted and moved into housing after the closure operation is over.