SAN FRANCISCO SAFEHOUSE
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Mission Statement
SafeHouse works to empower and support womxn who are experiencing housing instability and sexual exploitation or trafficking, by creating survivor-centered spaces, services, advocacy, and community education.
About This Cause
San Francisco SafeHouse empowers and supports womxn who are experiencing housing instability and sexual exploitation or trafficking. This population often comes with significant emotional wounds and scars due to the violence and trauma of street life. Many are victims of multiple kinds of violence, discrimination, and mistreatment due to race, disability, and gender identity. Often, they are underserved, overlooked, disregarded, ignored, and judged. SafeHouse programs include (1) transitional housing, (2) drop-in center support and resources, and (3) community training and education. FURTHER DESCRIPTION The organization’s core values are to be inclusive and compassionate and offer survivor-centered spaces and person-centered care. SafeHouse Residence. As the flagship program and heart of the SafeHouse organization, this is a home that provides womxn with up to 18 to 24 months of transitional housing, intensive case management, therapy, support groups, classes, social outings, employment counseling, educational and vocational support, and help with locating permanent housing after leaving SafeHouse. Hope Center. This drop-in center provides housing resources, case management, groups, social opportunities, and basic needs to womxn still living on the street. It also administers a rental subsidy program, funded by the City and County of San Francisco and private foundations, to help womxn secure housing. At the Center, womxn are provided: • Counseling and emotional support tailored to their needs • Safe, comfortable space to chill, including bathroom and hygiene products • Food, coffee, and water available every day • Screening for programs including transitional housing, case management, and other assistance • Access to computers and the internet • Opportunity to build community and get informal support Shelter-in-Place (SIP) Hotel. This temporary COVID-19 program, conducted in partnership with the City and County of San Francisco through its Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, allowed high-risk individuals experiencing homelessness to shelter in place. SafeHouse was able to advocate for womxn experiencing violence to be prioritized, which was an incredible step towards obtaining permanent housing for these womxn after the SIP Hotel program ended. Community Training and Education. SafeHouse offers an intensive, 40-hour training for people in the community to become Human Trafficking Advocates recognized by California courts. SafeHouse staff members also give presentations to organizations that request training on a variety of issues concerning sexual exploitation and trafficking. TOP SUCCESSES SafeHouse was founded in 1998 by Rev. Glenda Hope, a Presbyterian minister, known for decades of service to the poorest neighborhoods in the city. Rev. Hope began SafeHouse in response to a spree of violence committed against women engaging in survival sex work in the mid 1990s. She worked in collaboration with Sister Rosina Conrotto of the Sisters of the Presentation, an order of nuns also focused on society's discarded, overlooked people. It is important to note that although the program was founded by two women of faith, it is not a faith-based organization. The Hope Center was launched in 2019 to expand the reach of the SafeHouse organization in the local community. During the most restrictive periods of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hope Center staff continued its operations by offering virtual case management and providing food and supplies to clients at the front door. The Shelter-in-Place Hotel was offered in 2020–2021 to protect homeless womxn from COVID-19 infection, which was spreading rapidly in the homeless community. The SafeHouse organization doubled its staffing on an emergency basis to respond quickly to the public health crisis. In 2021, SafeHouse founded the Women’s Housing Coalition by partnering with two other nonprofits that serve womxn – Mary Elizabeth Inn and Cameo House – to advocate for womxn to be provided housing and support services. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors agreed, allocating nearly $2 million for womxn’s housing and support services. It was one of the largest budget allocations for womxn’s housing in the City’s history. SafeHouse programs continue to help many womxn find employment and permanent housing to live independently and thrive. In 2021: • The transitional housing program provided its full range of services, including safe housing, to 21 womxn. • The Hope Center provided case management and other supportive services to over 50 womxn, including 12 who were moved off the street and into safe permanent housing. • The SIP Hotel program provided safe housing to 38 womxn.