Guess what happened last month in June?!
Every month, we track the number of families we served who exited homelessness so we can determine if we are on pace to meet our housing goals for the year. Staying on top of this information helps us ask the important questions—of ourselves and others—to make sure we are doing everything possible to get people off the streets and into homes.
In June, we helped 14 families move-in to permanent housing in the San Francisco Bay Area!
This is a big deal because San Francisco’s preliminary Point-in-Time Count (PIT Count) results for 2022 reported a 3.5% decrease in homelessness in the City—the first decrease in nearly ten years. The results are even more staggering when compared to other Greater Bay Area counties, some of which reported double-digit increases in homelessness.
We’ve said it once and we will say it again, investing in solutions to end homelessness works. The decrease in homelessness that San Francisco experiences shows that with community investments like the Prop C Fund, the City will see more progress in the years to come when we invest in more permanent housing options. We know that permanent housing works, but we are also acutely aware that we need diverse housing options to meet the wide-ranging needs of our community, options like emergency and temporary shelters, interim and transitional housing, homelessness prevention services, permanent supportive housing, and permanent subsidized housing.
There’s no argument: housing and supportive services are critical to ending homelessness, particularly for families. Part of our progress as a community means creating these housing options and acknowledging that we were justified in committing to this work. It proves what happens when we come together as a community and make these structural changes. It shows that when you get the public-sector aligned, it becomes much easier to go to the private-sector and ask them to, ‘Join us.’
You'll see that of the families we serve at Hamilton Families who are exiting homelessness, 3-in-4 are led by single Black and Brown mothers (83% are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color; 83% are single parent households; 77% are mothers). Part of our strategic plan is to encourage transparency and accountability. We believe in holding ourselves and our communities accountable to move more families into homes and provide the support they need.
Now that we have a firmer grasp on who is experiencing family homelessness in our communities, we can work toward developing the measures needed to address it. Why? Because we need to keep each other accountable for our actions in this community. We all have a role to play in ending family homelessness—together.
We need you! You’re one of the reasons why Hamilton Families has made the progress we have. Here’s how you can show up for unhoused families in your community:
Share this post with three friends/colleagues on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to start a meaningful conversation about ending family homelessness in our community.
The solutions to family homelessness start with YOU. Click below to become an advocate and donate in support of Hamilton Families today.