HomeFirst

HomeFirst
Name	HomeFirst
Type	Nonprofit organization
Founded	1990s
Headquarters	San Francisco, California
Area served	San Francisco Bay Area
Services	Homelessness prevention, outreach, supportive housing, case management

HomeFirst HomeFirst is a nonprofit organization focused on addressing homelessness and housing instability in the San Francisco Bay Area through coordinated outreach, supportive housing, and prevention programs. Combining direct service delivery with advocacy, HomeFirst partners with municipal agencies, health systems, philanthropic foundations, and community organizations to place individuals and families into stable housing and to connect clients with behavioral health, benefit enrollment, and employment supports. The organization operates within a networked ecosystem involving municipal departments, healthcare providers, philanthropic trusts, and academic evaluators to scale interventions and measure outcomes.

Overview

HomeFirst delivers street outreach, emergency shelter operations, case management, and supportive housing development while coordinating with city departments such as San Francisco Department of Public Health, San Francisco Human Services Agency, Mayor of San Francisco, and regional entities like the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and the Bay Area Rapid Transit. Programs emphasize Housing First principles popularized by research from institutions such as the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and academic centers like the Urban Institute and University of California, San Francisco. Through partnerships with healthcare systems including Kaiser Permanente, San Francisco General Hospital, and community clinics affiliated with Community Clinic Consortium, HomeFirst integrates medical respite and behavioral health referral pathways. The organization often collaborates with philanthropic funders such as the Tipping Point Community, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

History

HomeFirst was established in the 1990s amid municipal and nonprofit responses to rising homelessness during the administrations of local leaders including the Mayor of San Francisco offices and policy shifts influenced by federal actions under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and legislative changes such as the McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act. Early operations involved partnerships with faith-based organizations, shelters run by groups like Catholic Charities USA and St. Vincent de Paul, and collaborations with local coalitions such as the San Francisco Homeless Coordinating Council. In subsequent decades HomeFirst expanded services during policy initiatives including regional efforts led by the Association of Bay Area Governments and ballot measures overseen by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to fund affordable housing and homelessness services. Notable programmatic expansions occurred alongside initiatives by healthcare partners including San Francisco Department of Public Health clinical programs and research collaborations with academics from University of California, Berkeley and University of California, San Francisco.

Services and Programs

HomeFirst operates emergency shelters, transitional housing sites, permanent supportive housing developments, and rapid rehousing programs, coordinating with city-operated sites such as Navigation Centers and municipal service hubs. Case management teams link clients to benefit programs administered through agencies like the Social Security Administration, California Department of Social Services, and county behavioral health systems. Medical respite partnerships with institutions such as San Francisco General Hospital and networked clinics allow post-acute care following hospital discharge. Employment and vocational supports are offered in collaboration with workforce initiatives like Workforce Investment Boards and service providers including Goodwill Industries and the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development. Prevention and diversion services leverage partnerships with legal aid groups such as the San Francisco Bar Association pro bono programs and tenant rights organizations including Tenants Together.

Organizational Structure and Governance

HomeFirst is governed by a board of directors comprising leaders from philanthropy, healthcare, law, and real estate, often including representatives with ties to organizations such as the Tipping Point Community, Kaiser Permanente, major law firms, and affordable housing developers like Mercy Housing. Executive leadership typically engages with city officials from the San Francisco Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development and coordinates with regional policy entities such as the Metropolitan Transportation Commission on service access. Operational divisions include outreach, housing development, clinical partnerships, and development/fundraising teams that interface with grantmakers like the MacArthur Foundation and federal funding streams administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Funding and Partnerships

HomeFirst’s revenue mix includes government contracts and grants from municipal and county agencies such as the San Francisco Human Services Agency, foundation grants from entities like the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, earned income from site-based services, and philanthropic donations solicited from family foundations and corporate partners, including local tech-sector donors linked to Silicon Valley Community Foundation. Capital campaigns for supportive housing projects often involve low-income housing tax credit allocations tied to state programs administered by the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee and financing from community development financial institutions and banks regulated under rules shaped by the Federal Reserve System. Programmatic evaluation and capacity building have been supported by research grants from organizations like the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and technical assistance from national intermediaries such as Corporation for Supportive Housing.

Impact and Evaluations

Evaluations of HomeFirst initiatives have used metrics promoted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and evidence standards from the Urban Institute and National Alliance to End Homelessness to measure housing placements, returns to homelessness, healthcare utilization, and cost offsets for hospitals like Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and emergency services. External partners such as researchers at University of California, Berkeley and policy analysts from the Brookings Institution have examined outcomes for permanent supportive housing versus shelter-only interventions, often showing reductions in inpatient stays and emergency department visits when medical respite and integrated case management services are provided. Local government dashboards maintained by the San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing and independent auditors track contract compliance and client-level outcomes.

Criticism and Controversies

HomeFirst has faced scrutiny related to claims about housing placement rates, contract management, and site selection for supportive housing, attracting attention from local media outlets such as the San Francisco Chronicle and oversight bodies including the San Francisco Office of the Controller. Community opposition and landlord disputes around project siting have involved neighborhood groups, tenant associations, and city advisory commissions, sometimes invoking hearings before the San Francisco Planning Commission and litigation in state courts. Critics have also cited challenges highlighted by policy researchers at institutions like the Urban Institute and advocacy organizations such as Coalition on Homelessness, arguing for greater transparency in contracting, stronger eviction protections under state statutes like the California Tenant Protection Act of 2019, and more robust independent evaluations from universities and audit offices.

Category:Nonprofit organizations based in San Francisco