Contact: Charles Kretchmer Lutvak, 415-575-5617, mayorspressoffice@sfgov.org
Mayor Lurie Launches Breaking the Cycle Fund to Deliver Transformation of City’s Behavioral Health and Homelessness Response
As City Faces Historic Budget Deficit, Fund Launches With $37.5 Million in Initial Private Funding Commitments
Mayor Lurie’s Fentanyl State of Emergency Ordinance—Passed 10-1 by Board of Supervisors—Unlocked Path to Leveraging Private Funds to Tackle Behavioral Health and Homelessness Crisis
San Francisco – Mayor Daniel Lurie today launched the Breaking the Cycle Fund, a groundbreaking public-private initiative that will provide critical resources to realize Mayor Lurie’s vision for transforming the city’s behavioral health and homelessness response. As the city faces an historic budget deficit upwards of $800 million, the fund is launching with $37.5 million in private seed funding commitments to carry out Mayor Lurie’s “Breaking the Cycle” plan to get people off the streets and on the path to stability, keep public spaces safe and clean, and responsibly manage taxpayer dollars.
The creation of the fund was enabled by Mayor Lurie’s Fentanyl State of Emergency Ordinance, passed 10-1 by the Board of Supervisors in February. It also marks another major step forward under the mayor’s Breaking the Cycle plan, following the launch of an integrated neighborhood-based model for the city’s street outreach teams in March and major changes in April, including the opening of a 24/7 police-friendly stabilization center, a significant expansion of recovery and treatment beds to help people across the city access support, and the introduction of new policies to connect people to treatment.
“The only way to address the homelessness and behavioral health crisis is with an all-hands-on-deck response, and that’s exactly what the Breaking the Cycle Fund represents,” said Mayor Lurie. “This work is about so much more than money alone. It’s about breaking away from failed strategies and building more effective systems and services to break the cycles of homelessness, addiction, and government failure—and reclaim San Francisco’s place as the greatest city in the world.”
The Breaking the Cycle Fund is a public-private partnership that will support the city’s work under Mayor Lurie’s Breaking the Cycle plan. Specifically, it will be used to rapidly increase interim and treatment bed capacity to bring people indoors and connect them to care. It will also support reforming the behavioral health and homelessness response system to deliver better outcomes for clients and help them move from the street to interim housing and then to permanent housing.
The initiative has already received $37.5 million in anchor funding commitments from the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation ($10 million), Crankstart ($10 million), the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation ($500,000), Keith and Priscilla Geeslin ($6 million), and Tipping Point Community ($11 million). The city will report these and any other commitments to the Breaking the Cycle Fund as required under state and local law, including reporting of donations within 30 days of receipt to the California Fair Political Practices Commission and as required to the Board of Supervisors.
The fund will be housed at the San Francisco Foundation and will be implemented in coordination with the Mayor’s Office to advance the Breaking the Cycle plan and address the behavioral health and homelessness crisis, drawing on the expertise and investments of key trusted partners that collectively bring decades of experience doing this work in San Francisco, including the Housing Accelerator Fund and Tipping Point Community.
“The Housing Accelerator Fund is excited to see Mayor Lurie’s administration taking concrete action to transform San Francisco’s homelessness response system. We’ve long advocated for a thoughtful, creative approach to this crisis that implements and scales proven solutions, and this partnership does just that,” said Housing Accelerator Fund CEO Rebecca Foster. “We look forward to continuing our coordination with the city as Breaking the Cycle is implemented.”
“As longtime supporters of the fight against homelessness in San Francisco, we believe the Breaking the Cycle Fund presents a unique opportunity to address our city’s homelessness and behavioral health crises through immediate interventions and longer-term systems change,” said Katie Schwab Paige, Board Chair and President of the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation. “The Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation is proud to support this vital effort that is designed to meet the urgency of the moment and ensure people have the housing and holistic supports that meet their particular needs.”
“As the primary co-sponsor of the emergency ordinance that enabled this major fundraising effort, I’m proud to have helped pave the way for the ‘Breaking the Cycle’ plan,” said District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey. “I’m especially encouraged by the philanthropic momentum behind this initiative, which reflects a growing coalition for recovery-focused, data-driven solutions.”
“Instituting transformational reforms to fix San Francisco’s approach to behavioral health and homelessness requires honest leadership and vision. And today, we’re seeing Mayor Daniel Lurie follow-through on this commitment,” said District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio. “I know the creation of the Break the Cycle Fund will help to deliver better outcomes for those suffering on our streets and cycling through our system of care. This is a crucial step to help restore accountability and the public’s trust in city government to effectively manage this crisis.”
“This is what bold, creative leadership looks like. When we think outside the box, invest in our communities, and commit to real solutions, we will see results,” said District 2 Supervisor Stephen Sherrill. “These funds will help bring new sites online, strengthen existing services, and deliver the urgent response this crisis demands.”
“The Board of Supervisors supported the Fentanyl State of Emergency Ordinance to allow Mayor Lurie to fundraise during a challenging budget cycle in support of critical programs. This fundraising effort is an encouraging indicator of the collective will in our city to make progress on a crisis that has afflicted our communities for too long,” said District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood. “I look forward to continued progress to address our homelessness and behavioral health crisis.”
“This funding represents the action that our city has been waiting for in providing care for those in crisis,” said District 3 Supervisor Danny Sauter. “San Francisco is ready to act urgently to turn these dollars into services and resources that get treatment and care to those who most need them.”
“Our neighborhood-based street teams are working hard every day with limited resources,” said Mary Ellen Carroll, Executive Director of the Department of Emergency Management. “This new funding stream means our teams will have more resources to offer folks and make San Francisco’s streets healthy and safe for everyone.”
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