SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – San Francisco Mayor, London Breed, announced Monday that the city will reopen the Abigail Hotel to serve as a temporary home to help homeless people get off the streets.
City officials, in collaboration with the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, are planning to use the nearly hundred-year-old hotel as part of their Step Up Housing program, which helps homeless adults move into independent living quarters.
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“During the pandemic, San Francisco provided emergency shelters and shelter to thousands of people without shelter, and as we continue our city’s recovery we must do everything in our power to ensure that those same people have access to permanent housing.” said race. “We know housing is the solution to homelessness, and the Abigail Hotel will provide permanent living space for people with a history of homelessness and access to supportive housing for those new to the streets.”
Built in 1926, the Abigail Hotel in downtown San Francisco was one of the first properties to open during the COVID-19 pandemic, providing shelter for transitional youth. Officials closed it back in June to begin moving to Step Up Housing, which is managed by the Tenderloin Housing Clinic.
As Step Up Housing, the Abigail will provide 59 residential units, and the property managers will offer their residents case management services five days a week.
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The Abigail Hotel (Google Maps)
“We are excited to convert the Abigail Hotel to improve housing,” said Shireen McSpadden, executive director of the San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. “As people make progress in finding accommodation, they are releasing much-needed places in permanent support housing for vulnerable people who have needed their first home or home in a long time.”
Reopening Abigail is part of Breed’s strategy to address San Francisco’s problems with its homeless population. Their strategy includes their homelessness recovery plan, which aims to expand the city’s homeless response system and acquire or lease 1,500 new units of PSH over the next two years, the largest one-off expansion in the city in 20 years.
“It’s exciting to see another SIP hotel continue to be part of the city’s long-term strategy to accommodate all of our residents,” said District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney. “The Abigail Hotel will provide better accommodation for those who graduate in permanent supportive housing and can live more independently. By providing more of these housing options for the most vulnerable residents of our city, we are creating an essential part of the framework that will help us finally get our homelessness crisis under control. “
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For more information about the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, visit their website. For more information on the San Francisco Homeless Response System and Housing Ladder Program, visit the website of the housing program.
