SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced on Monday that the city is reopening the Abigail Hotel as a Step Up Housing site as part of her plan to address homelessness.
Step Up Housing, which is part of the city's Homeless Response System, offers opportunities for residents of Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) to move from intensive supportive housing to more independent living. The Abigail will provide 59 units of housing for adults successfully transitioning from Permanent Supportive Housing to affordable housing, the announcement said.
The city plans to expand its Homelessness Response System and acquire or lease 1,500 new units of PSH in the next two years, according to the announcement.
"Throughout the pandemic, San Francisco has provided emergency housing and shelter for thousands of unhoused people, and as we continue to move forward with our city's recovery, we need to do all that we can to ensure that those same people have access to permanent housing," said Breed.
The Abigail Hotel was one of the first Shelter-In-Place (SIP) sites opened during the COVID-19 pandemic, sheltering Transitional Aged Youth. It was demobilized as a SIP site on June 30, 2021, to transition to its current status as a Step Up Housing site. Enditem