Frequently Asked Questions
Can you tell me more about your three services?
FIRST is educational outreach. We educate community members about the nature and magnitude of the crisis versus the dwindling amount of resources and provide the community with an opportunity to get involved. We view the promotion of empathy and education within the city as playing a crucial role in garnering community support, sparking action and change on an individual level and motivating people to voice their opinions whether it be at the polls, city hall meetings, or around the dinner table. We do this by engaging over 10,000 community members a month in conversations about homelessness through canvassing, staff education and community outreach.
SECOND is our Linking Services Program. The LSP is designed to evenly distribute resources of in-kind donations within city shelters that have identified the need for such items. We give people an opportunity while we talk to them in the field to allow us to contact them about picking up their physical necessities, so we can deliver them to the shelters. Through meetings with shelters and service providers throughout the Bay Area, we connect their needs with the resources we’ve identified in the field.
THIRD is donations to shelters. We make donations to shelters and service providers after considering the services they offer, including food banks, job training centers, homeless rights advocacy, legal help, and more.
How do you choose which shelters or service providers to donate funds to?
When it comes to in-kind donations within our Linking Services Program, we help all service providers serving every homeless community. We focus our monetary donations to shelters and service providers specifically for women, children and families. We do this because all three groups are historically under-represented within the entirely underfunded homeless services community. In comparison to the total amount of shelters and service providers out there, few are specifically tailored to meet the needs of just women, youth or families.
We focus on helping those providers that do exist to continue their daily operations or use the donations for expansion of other programs. Our community liaison team nominates five to seven service providers every month and presents the SFHSC staff with a bio on each program and their services. After allowing the staff to learn more about each program, the staff vote on their top choices for that month. We then distribute the monthly funds evenly among the top choices. Shelters we’ve donated to previously are open to re-nomination and can be donated to again.
How did you come to the name San Francisco Homeless Services Coalition?
The name is inspired by a campaign started in Los Angeles to educate the public about the L.A. homeless crisis, link resources, and raise funds for the Los Angeles Youth Network.
SFHSC (the legal name of which is Los Angeles Homeless Services Coalition Inc. dba San Francisco Homeless Services Coalition) opened its doors in April of 2007 in San Francisco. SFHSC is an independent nonprofit with no affiliation and not be confused with any other.
Is there a list of shelters you donate to?
A list of all shelters and service providers SFHSC has given to can be requested from daniel@sfhsc.org
SFHSC doesn’t represent or fundraise on behalf of any shelter or service provider. The money SFHSC donates to different service providers comes with no requirement for any affiliation or partnership.
Do you provide any direct services to the homeless?
SFHSC focuses on helping other homeless service providers obtain resources, as well as educate the community regarding the homeless crisis. SFHSC has always been very clear in its literature and public education that we focus on helping other charities while educating the community but don’t provide direct services to the homeless.
The services we provide are for homeless services providers. SFHSC supports the “No Wrong Door” policy, and because SFHSC does not provide direct homeless services, we try to make finding services as easy as possible for any person seeking it. Any homeless individual who approaches SFHSC looking for where to get help is always put in touch with the appropriate shelter or service provider.
We equip all of our canvassers with proper references in case they encounter an individual in need of services while out in the field.
I want to do a documentary for school about homelessness, can we interview you?
Our Community Liaison Director Matt Homan would be happy to answer questions you may have regarding stats or services offered to the homeless in the Bay Area. Part of the SFHSC education campaign is to reach out to younger people and students to get them involved and aware. You can email matt@sfhsc.org
What is SFHSC’s FEIN number?
20-5562638
What is the Statement of Support for?
The Statement of Support is a tool used to build up grassroots support and public awareness in the community. It serves three distinct functions. The first is as an opportunity to publicly show your support for the cause and campaign. The thousands of signatures collected every month are a sign of the huge grassroots support and solidarity behind the public’s disapproval of the homeless crisis in their community. The power of this support is used as a calling card in any meeting we take with a community member or person of influence to show them where the public stands on this issue. The second is it serves as the place where we can take your information if you want to donate food, clothing or any other item. We use the information you write down as our way of knowing what potential items you have to donate and then we’re able to contact you to get those items to the shelter that may need it. The Statement of Support’s third function is to get your official information if you make a donation so that when we write you a receipt we store your information for our records. Your information, address and contact info is completely confidential for the use of SFHSC only and is never sold, distributed or given to anyone. SFHSC does not engage in any lobbying or endorse any ballot initiative nor endorses or campaigns for any candidate. The statement of support is not a petition, and SFHSC does not support any political agenda, and never has.
What is canvassing and why is it an important part of SFHSC?
Simply put, the role of canvassing is to talk to people in the community systematically, engaging in a one-on-one dialogue. By talking with one person at a time SFHSC can accomplish at least one but hopefully all three goals of the campaign. The dialogue allows us to educate each person about homelessness in San Francisco and around the Bay. It also allows us to identify each person as someone who may have items to donate, funds to give, or perhaps connect them as a volunteer. We aim to talk to 15,000 Bay Area residents every month. Canvassing provides a unique and effective way of reaching so many people on such a personal level.
Are your canvassers paid or volunteer?
The majority of our canvassing staff are paid. We do have many volunteers who assist in both administrative tasks as well as the public outreach. Our canvassers are paid a base salary for their work plus bonuses for their fundraising. Many canvassing campaigns have their own different approaches on how to pay their staff. We pay our canvassers in consideration of the three services they help us provide- education, identifying people who want to donate food, clothing or volunteer their own time, and raising funds.