Debbie Walker, a 69-year-old resident of Jerrold Commons, a homeless village in Bayview, has found a new home in an 80-square-foot double cabin she shares with her son. Walker was one of the first residents at Jerrold Commons, which opened last April and provides a private room, case management, and other services to older, disabled, and chronically homeless adults.

Expansion Plans Stalled

However, plans to expand the site have been stalled indefinitely after the neighborhood’s supervisor, Shamann Walton, blasted Mayor Daniel Lurie’s plans. Walton said that homeless people had been historically ‘warehoused’ in the district, and that he was not consulted on the decision. As a result, half a dozen empty cabins remain in storage at the shelter, awaiting a decision on whether to use them at Jerrold Commons.

The city has taken a new approach to services at Jerrold Commons, with staff from three city departments and the nonprofit Homebridge providing support to residents. Barnell Britton, a 76-year-old disabled Bayview resident, was admitted to the hospital last year and had nowhere to go after his release. The transition from street homelessness to his own cabin at Jerrold Commons, where Britton receives daily medicine distribution and regular check-ups at the shelter’s health clinic, ‘changed his life,’ he said.

Community Concerns

Despite the success of Jerrold Commons, the shelter has been viewed unfavorably by the neighborhood supervisor’s office and other stakeholders, who say that the neighborhood has been overburdened with homeless services. Theo Ellington, who is running to replace Walton, says that the site’s location, mere feet away from another homeless shelter, is ‘not ideal.’ ‘We are overburdened with homeless services and so having geographical equity in our shelters is a must,’ said Ellington.

Original reporting: Mission Local — read the source article.