Though a new Homeless "Navigation Center," intended to move entire encampments into housing, was announced with much fanfare last week, the Chron's Matier and Ross is a bit more skeptical. Describing camp clearing as "an exercise in futility" and the navigation centers as "political cover" for Mayor Ed Lee "in an election year." After looking at the numbers associated with these efforts, are you inclined to agree with the ink-stained duo?

  • $165.7 million: The amount of money SF spends on homelessness per year
  • $3 million: The amount of money, per year, San Francisco Dapartment of Public Works spends cleaning up homeless encampments
  • 35: The amount, in tons, of debris from homeless encampments DPW picks up per month
  • 14,000: The number of syringes DPW cleaned up from homeless encampments last year
  • $1.3 million: The amount of money per year Caltrans spends per year cleaning up on and off-ramp homeless camps across California
  • 8: The number of times, since July 2014, Caltrans has called in hazardous-waste contractors to clean up "needles and the like" from the homeless encampment at the landscaped sidewalk plaza at the Fifth Street on- and off-ramp
  • 217: The number of homeless camps a Caltrans spokesperson says they've "closed" (only to have them re-open hours later, it appears) in SF since July 2014
  • $186,000: The amount of money it cost to make those temporary closures
  • $57 million: The amount of money SF spends per year on its 4,620 supportive-housing units for homeless people
  • 3,000: The number of those that have been created since 2004, yet "the number of homeless people has 'remained largely unchanged'" since then
  • 10: The number of people who “transition” out of supportive housing per month, "leaving the city persistently short of beds for new arrivals."
  • $3 million: The amount of the anonymous private donation that's paying for the new "Navigation Center" for the homeless
  • 10: The maximum number of days homeless people can stay in the Navigation Center "while officials figure out how to get them the housing and social services they need. Or, in some cases, buy them a bus ticket home."
  • 75: The number of homeless people SF's new Navigation Center will be able to house at once
  • 18 months: The length of time the Navigation Center will exist, which is why "Critics suspect the touting of the new center...is to give the mayor political cover in an election year."


Previously: New Homeless 'Navigation Center' Will Seek To Move Whole Encampments, Pets And All

All facts and figures: Clearing S.F. homeless camps an exercise in futility, March 6, 2015 and Mayor Ed Lee tackles homelessness ahead of re-election campaign, March 8, 2015, SF Chronicle.