Supportive Housing 101
What is Permanent Supportive Housing?
Permanent supportive housing combines affordable housing with voluntary wraparound support services. It is a proven solution to homelessness. Residents receive permanent housing, along with on-site services like case management, mental health, educational, and vocational services, which help them achieve housing stability and improve their health.
Experts in Supportive Housing
For over 40 years, Episcopal Community Services of San Francisco (ECS) has been at the forefront of fighting homelessness in the Bay Area. ECS offers numerous client-centered programs, including high quality supportive housing, emergency shelter, behavioral health counseling, housing navigation and problem-solving via Adult Coordinated Entry, workforce development and employment stabilization, senior services, and meal programs. ECS serves over 12,000 people experiencing homelessness, extreme poverty, and food insecurity each year.
In 1994, ECS opened Canon Kip Community House, the first newly constructed permanent supportive housing in San Francisco. Today, it is responsible for operating over 2,000 PSH units, including a 256-unit PSH site in San Francisco. ECS maintains an annual housing retention rate of 95%.
Project Homekey
In 2020, to protect Californians experiencing homelessness at greatest risk of COVID-19, the State launched an innovative new housing program called Project Homekey.
In the first Homekey round in 2020, Marin County received approximately $8.6 million to purchase 63 new units of supportive housing in San Rafael and Corte Madera. In that same round, in partnership with the City and County of San Francisco, ECS acquired and converted the 232-unit Granada Hotel and 122-unit Hotel Diva to convert to permanent supportive housing.