Homeless Youth Space to Close

A site in San Francisco's Upper Haight neighborhood that's provided mental health services, clean syringes, and other assistance to homeless neighborhood youth for over a decade will shut down Christmas Day.

Homeless Youth Alliance recently announced that its landlord isn't renewing the lease on the space beyond January 1.

Mary Howe, Homeless Youth Alliance's executive director, said in an interview that that property owner Happening House Ventures has been supportive of her agency, including giving it a discount on the rent, but "I think they are ready for a change in the building."

On the agency's website, Howe said, "The building will be renovated, and reopened with apartments on the upper floors. The ground floor storefront, where HYA's drop-in center and needle exchange currently operate, will be turned into a restaurant or retail space." (The drop-in is at 1696 Haight Street. The needle exchange is at 584 Cole Street.)

Asked about the building's ownership, a city planning department staffer provided the name David E. Smith and gave the address for Gaetani Real Estate Inc., in San Francisco. Paul Gaetani didn't respond to an interview request.

Despite losing the space, Howe said Homeless Youth Alliance is committed to helping homeless youth in the Upper Haight past the December 25 closure. There are some things staff can provide on a mobile basis, including food, safer sex supplies, harm reduction trainings, and therapy. The group also plans to continue connecting participants with medical care, housing, and other resources.

The agency is looking for a van so it can provide services on a mobile basis and is hoping to find a new space in the Upper Haight.

"We don't always want to be the homeless Homeless Youth Alliance," said Howe.

The organization may make a stationary space available at various locations, including Golden Gate Park, which is near the drop-in center.

Howe said Bevan Dufty, who serves as director of Housing Opportunity, Partnerships and Engagement for Mayor Ed Lee, has been "very helpful." Dufty didn't provide comment for this story, despite multiple requests.

'Shock and Anger'

Homeless Youth Alliance works with young people aged 13-29 who live on the street in the neighborhood, which draws youth from around the world who are often seeking refuge from abuse and alienation, the website notes.

The agency has a budget of approximately $650,000 and sees from 45 to 150 youth each day. Based on a biannual survey of participants, Howe said about 47 percent identify as LGBTQ or a similar category.

One previous participant described how Homeless Youth Alliance, especially Howe, repeatedly helped him.

Krackamya Welch, 30, has been involved with the nonprofit since around 2003, about two years after it started and when it was still known as Haight Ashbury Youth Outreach Team.

Welch said his reaction when he learned of the center shutting down was "shock and anger."

"They helped me out a lot when I was a homeless youth out there," said Welch, who's "mostly straight."

He was a heroin addict and the needle exchange, where he learned how to inject safely and got access to clean needles, "probably saved my life many times over." He also received mental health services and food, along with other help.

Howe was the only person who came to see him in the hospital right after he was stabbed in an attempted carjacking and almost died, and she got in touch with his family in Tennessee.

Welch also spent 16 months in prison for fraud, and Howe and others helped him get housing when he got out.

Without that assistance, "I would have been in the streets, and I would have had to go right back to stealing and hustling again," he said.

Welch moved off the streets around 2008 and has volunteered with the agency for several years. He just helped out "for what will be the last Thanksgiving dinner there," said Welch, who now lives in Oakland.

Gay Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) said that it was "devastating" to learn of the impending closure.

"Young people are coming from around the country to the Haight, and many of them find it hard to survive on their own," Ammiano said in an email. "Food, clothing, counseling, medical aid - those kind of resources have to be available to youth in that neighborhood. I'm glad a few city officials are helping, because it's critical that HYA find an affordable space in the Haight so that they can keep providing help in the kind of non-judgmental setting that teens and 20-somethings need."

Howe, who identifies as "non-specific," recalled "sobbing a lot" when she informed participants of the closing October 30. She said the group is "strongly committed" to helping the youth.

"We have looked all over the neighborhood," Howe said. "We're really committed to staying in the Upper Haight."

However, said Howe, "We're not going to get another space" in the neighborhood for what her organization currently pays.

The rent for the 2,100-square-foot space is $3,100 a month. Howe assumes that without the discount the landlord's given the nonprofit, the rent would be $8,000 to $10,000 a month. She said she offered to pay more "years ago," but that offer was rejected. With some fundraising, the organization "could probably pay double" what it currently spends on rent, she said.

Homeless Youth Alliance has 13 paid staff and 20 volunteers. Howe, whose $55,000 salary likely makes her one of the lowest-paid nonprofit executive directors in the city, said nobody would be laid off.

A place to Relax

The agency has been having focus groups with participants to ask, "What are the things most important to you? How do you think we should deliver those things?" said Howe.

A large number of the people Homeless Youth Alliance serves have faced "constant trauma" in their lives, and it's "very hard" to accept what's happening, said Howe.

The nonprofit works with participants that few other nonprofits serve, and the youth are people who often "don't get along or talk" to each other. The agency has given them a space to "just relax" and "let their guards down a little," she said. Among other things, the drop-in offers bathroom and shower facilities, phones, and serves as a place to pick up mail.

Many residents, activists, nonprofits, and some city officials have been expressing concern about the influx of high-tech companies and employees resulting in higher rents in the city as the tech boom has taken off, most notably in the last year.

Howe said what's happening to her agency is somewhat related to the changes, but she said the Upper Haight "gentrified a long time ago," and "social service providers have been pushed out of the neighborhood for decades."

Over the years, Homeless Youth Alliance has itself received criticism from some in the neighborhood. The nonprofit has had neighbors who are "very vocally" against seeing homeless people in the area, said Howe. But other Upper Haight residents have been supportive.

"We didn't want to close before Christmas because the neighbors cook for the kids every single year," she said.

Like others, Welch has heard the site will house a pizzeria.

"That's exactly what [the street] needs," he said. "Another fucking pizza place. That's ridiculous."

Anyone interested in donating a van or contributing to purchasing one can contact Howe at [email protected].