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“If a race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition,” scholar Carter Woodson, the chief architect of Black History Month, said. “It stands in danger of being exterminated.”

As Black History Month concludes, it’s a good time to reflect about the African-American community in San Francisco. As the African-American CEO of a local nonprofit, I can tell you we face significant challenges.

San Francisco Business Times Guest Opinion, Brett Andrews Feb 2020

On January 29th, the City financed the acquisition of Grove Street House, a State licensed nine-bed, 60-day residential mental health treatment facility, carried out in partnership with PRC/Baker Places for more than four decades. The program at Grove Street House currently serves adult residents, ages 18 to 59 and is unique, as it is the only crisis stabilization program in San Francisco for co-occurring disorders—chronic, severe mental health disorders and substance use disorders.

The City, with funding from the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD), provided a $3.94 million loan to PRC/Baker Places for the acquisition and comprehensive rehabilitation of Grove Street House.

“In just the last year, 82 people took a critical step along their path to health and independence through Grove Street House, a vital community resource for decades,” said PRC CEO Brett Andrews. “We’re grateful to Mayor Breed, the Department of Public Health, and the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development for their help providing long term sustainability to this one-of-a-kind program and the people we serve.”

Mayor Breed also announced the City’s intent to purchase South Van Ness Manor, a 29-bed licensed Board and Care facility in the Mission. These two properties were identified as opportunities for acquisition and preservation following the Mayor’s announcement last fall to increase funding to acquire sites that support people with behavioral health challenges and are at risk of closing.

PRESS RELEASE

SF CHRONICLE: SF Rescues homes for homeless and mentally ill at risk of closing

SF EXAMINER: Mayor Announces Funding to Prevent Closure of Board and Care Facilities

February 4, 2020 – Mayor London N. Breed and Supervisor Rafael Mandelman today announced a new Hummingbird Place behavioral health respite center on Valencia Street, in partnership with the San Francisco Department of Public Health (DPH), Tipping Point Community, The Salvation Army, and PRC/Baker Places.

The new center will open this spring and will serve 30 overnight clients at a time and up to 25 daytime drop-in clients, providing a place for people with mental health issues and substance use disorder to rest and get connected to care.

“Building on the successful partnership we began together in establishing and growing the Hummingbird program at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital,” said Brett Andrews, PRC Chief Executive Officer, “we look forward to the opportunity to provide this unique model of evidence-based care to our most vulnerable residents living in the Mission neighborhood and beyond. We thank Mayor Breed for her leadership and her commitment to expand the capacity of mental health beds for San Francisco residents living in the most desperate of circumstances.”

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SF CHRONICLE: New Mental Health Shelter Aims to Ease Burden at SF General’s Crowded Psychiatric ER