Committee backs 'Place for All' ordinance requiring HSH plan for shelter and supportive housing

The Public Safety & Neighborhood Services Committee voted May 26 to send an ordinance to the full Board that would require the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) to submit a plan to provide unsheltered individuals access to shelter and permanent supportive housing, commonly referred to in the hearing as the "Place for All" program.

Supervisor Rafael Mandelmann, who led the presentation, described the ordinance as the result of sustained advocacy and said the plan would require HSH and real-estate partners to estimate needs and identify funding so that shelter and housing interventions can be used to ensure every unsheltered person has a place to go within three years of the plan’s submission. "We now have legislation that I think the full board can support," Mandelmann said.

Supporters and service providers told the committee the city has made progress on housing-first strategies — Mandelmann cited figures of more than 26,000 people exiting homelessness and over 2,500 new permanent supportive housing units in the last two years — but that unsheltered homelessness remains a major problem. Rescue SF and neighborhood organizations urged the committee to forward the ordinance so the Board and the public can review anticipated costs and program details.

Speakers with lived experience also addressed the panel. Yolanda Pazalco, who said she had been homeless and is now housed, warned against aggressive sweeps and urged that shelter be meaningful and lead to housing.

The committee voted 3-0 to recommend the ordinance to the full Board. Committee members noted the plan will prompt additional conversations over the coming months about capacity, funding, and how shelter access will connect to permanent housing.