San Francisco Mayor London Breed has pulled the plug on a homeless center in the heart of the city as part of sweeping midyear cutbacks.
The move isn’t sitting well with homeless advocates and community organizations that have spent years planning the new center where the city’s homeless would be able to get food, a hot shower, connect to social services, and spend the night.
The city had pledged to fund the Tenderloin Urban Rest and Sleep Center, but Breed, citing cutbacks across the board in anticipation of a steep budget shortfall, has reneged on the promise.
Breed announced the midcycle budget cuts as her administration attempts to pass its next budget in July. That has translated into hitting the pause button on programs like the homeless center which had been funded in the previous budget but have not yet launched.
“The reductions leave intact basic city services and priorities so we can continue making progress on hiring police officers, expanding shelter beds, advancing behavioral health initiatives, and cleaning up our streets,” Breed, who is up for reelection, wrote to department heads when announcing the cuts.