S.F. Adds 60 New Beds at Division Circle Navigation Center

There are now 60 additional beds available at a multiservice homeless shelter in the city's Mission District, an expansion that inspired a visit Monday from San Francisco Mayor London Breed.

Breed toured the Division Circle Navigation Center, which opened just over a year ago and now offers 186 beds for homeless residents. The center also recently opened a new clinic and community space, as well as expanded bathroom facilities.

The mayor was noticeably excited about the center's expanded capacity. It brings the number of shelter beds created under her watch to nearly 350, inching her one step closer to the 1,000 new shelter beds she has promised to add by the end of 2020.

"If we’re going to address the issue, we have to make sure that there are places like this to make sure that people can get settled and get their lives back on the right path," Breed said. "This could happen to any of us at any given time. None of us are immune."

Unlike traditional homeless shelters, navigation centers offer a range of substance abuse and mental health services, and aim to connect residents to employment and housing opportunities. They are also open around the clock, allowing residents to stay during the day and bring their pets and belongings.

San Francisco opened its first homeless navigation center in 2015 and currently operates six throughout the city.

Breed was joined by Vallejo Mayor Bob Sampayan, who is interested in opening a similar multiservice homeless shelter in his city. There are more than 500 homeless people in Vallejo and only one small church-run homeless shelter, a discrepancy that prompted the city last year to declare a homeless shelter emergency, Sampayan said.

"If there is a way to lend direction, as opposed to handing them a piece of paper, it makes it so much easier for an unsheltered person to get the services that they need," said Sampayan, who plans to announce potential sites for a proposed 125-bed navigation center in his city later this week.

San Francisco is currently moving forward with building its seventh navigation center on an Embarcadero lot near the Bay Bridge. The proposed center has been fiercely contested by a group of local residents who say it will bring crime and vagrancy to the neighborhood, and who recently sued the city in an effort to halt construction. A state judge last week denied the group's request for a restraining order.

Breed, who proposed the new navigation center, said she doesn't buy the argument that these kinds of shelters increase crime.

"Yes, we want to keep all of our residents safe," Breed said. "But to attribute homelessness with challenges with safety is something that I don’t accept."

Breed added that before the Division Circle center — located on South Van Ness Avenue near 16th Street — opened its doors, tents lined Division Street in what was considered one of the biggest homeless encampments in the city. Since then, the center has served upward of 1,200 people, according to the mayor's office. It also reported that more than 40% of homeless people who have solicited at least one of the city's six navigation centers have subsequently transitioned into other shelter programs or permanent housing.

"Everyone deserves a safe place to sleep at night and access to behavioral health care if they need it," she said. "We must continue adding more shelters and housing throughout San Francisco, and connecting people to the services that can help get them off the streets and out of homelessness."

Correction: This article previously stated that the Division Circle Navigation Center was located on Mission Street. It is actually on South Van Ness Avenue.