SAN FRANCISCO—This winter four San Francisco churches will provide food, shelter, and beds for the city’s homeless for the 28th year. One of these four, St. Boniface Church on Golden Gate Avenue kicked off the shelter program on Sunday, November 20 with hot meals and sleeping arrangements for nearly 60 homeless men provided by nearly volunteers from 40 different local congregations.
The other three churches participating in the winter shelter program include The Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption, St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, and the First Unitarian Universalist Society. The churches will provide more than 300 beds with St. Bede increasing their 60 bed quantity by 5 to 6 percent during the season. In addition to the shelter, each church will continue to serve a meal every day.
Director of San Francisco’s Department of Homelessness Jeff Kositsky stated that there are 6,980 homeless people living on the streets in SF. “This [shelter program] solves sleep,” says Kositsky. “Permanent housing is what we are striving for.”
According to the SF Gate, though San Francisco provides 1,173 beds for the homeless, 4,350 still remain without shelter beds, including those 900 individuals on waiting lists. Garfield Magpie, 68, travelled from Los Angeles to SF when he first heard of the program. “I didn’t have a place to go,” said Magpie in a SF Gate interview. “I thought this might be a good fit.”
Throughout the year Episcopal Community Services partners with the city’s emergency services to provide 600 beds every night for the homeless and housing for 1,200 formerly homeless men, women, and children.
The winter schedule can be viewed below:
-St. Boniface Church: November 20, 2016 to December 10, 2016
-The Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption: December 18, 2016 to January 15, 2017
-St. Mark’s Lutheran Church: December 11, 2016 to December 18, 2016, January 15, 2017 to February 4, 2017
-First Unitarian Universalist Society: February 5, 2017 to February 25, 2017
