Larkin Street Youth Services is receiving $1 million in federal money for building repairs. U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff announced the award on Monday, Oct. 19, at the nonprofit's Engagement Community Center at 134 Golden Gate Ave. in the Tenderloin, with Mayor Daniel Lurie there too, the San Francisco Examiner and Larkin Street reported.
The money comes through the Senate's Congressionally Directed Spending program. Under that program, members of Congress steer money to projects in their states that community groups apply for. Larkin Street calls it a one-time award.
Where the money goes
The Golden Gate Avenue center houses a kitchen, a school, an art studio, therapy rooms and a health clinic. According to the nonprofit, the money will pay for roof repairs to keep the building dry through winter rain, new kitchen flooring, and structural upgrades at its shelter and its transitional-living houses around the city. CEO Sherilyn Adams said Larkin Street served 2,500 young people last year, and 700 of them moved into housing.
"We need to use every tool we have to try to find the resources to make sure that we're taking care of our young people," Schiff said, according to the Examiner. Lurie tied the award to his "Breaking the Cycle" homelessness plan: "We know that the earlier that we intervene, the better the outcomes."
The youth count
This year's Point-in-Time Count found fewer than 600 homeless youth in San Francisco, counting people up to age 24. That is a 54% drop from 2024, the Examiner reported, though advocates say methodology changes make the two counts hard to compare. Adams said half of people who experience homelessness first do so before age 25.