St. James Infirmary Closure Puts San Francisco Trans Homeless Programs at Risk

St. James Infirmary, a San Francisco nonprofit founded 24 years ago by sex workers, told nearly 100 staffers in an email on a Tuesday that it was shutting down, according to a column by Nuala Bishari. The organization had recently taken on ambitious programs serving the city’s unhoused transgender community, which the column describes as filling a large gap in city social services.

St. James staffs the Bobbie Jean Baker House, a 15-bed transitional housing program for trans people, and manages the distribution of 100 rental housing subsidies for trans people at risk of homelessness. It also operates the 85-bed Taimon Booton navigation center, which the column describes as one of the only trans-specific homeless shelters in the country. Last year, Mayor London Breed pledged to end trans homelessness by 2027, and many of the programs she highlighted were run by St. James.

The column states that in San Francisco, trans people are 18 times more likely to experience homelessness than the general population. Staffers were not given a reason for the closure. Dana Hopkins, president of the nonprofit’s board, told the columnist: “Despite everybody’s best intentions, we don’t quite have the capacity to do this.”

Based on interviews with eight current and former staffers, the column describes an organization that had struggled with management problems in recent years. After the board dissolved the nonprofit’s co-directorship in February, program managers said they were kept in the dark. Staff said money was squandered and benefits went unpaid. The column reports that the health clinic’s license allegedly lapsed at one point, leaving medical providers uncertain whether they could care for patients.

When the navigation center opened during the pandemic, staff described problems that grew quickly. Site directors quit or were pushed out, shifts were severely understaffed, and the waitlist for beds grew into the thousands. Brianna Singleton, a former nurse practitioner with St. James, said the organization was out of its depth when the center opened, and she quit in April. “We were caring for really vulnerable people,” she said, a situation that made the stakes of the work high (Proverbs 31:8-9).

In July, 36 navigation center staff members filed a grievance with St. James Infirmary’s board, citing serious management problems such as missing benefits and a lack of transparency, and called for a separation from the organization. Navigation center staff told the columnist they never intended to leave for a less dysfunctional workplace. Juba Kalamka, the community health services director, said his primary concern was ensuring the closure happened “as gracefully and professionally as possible.”

Pau Crego, executive director of the city’s Office of Transgender Initiatives, said there would be no pause in service for any of the programs, including the rental subsidies keeping 100 trans people housed. Emily Cohen, deputy director for communications and legislative affairs at the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, said the city is committed to finding a long-term operator who can manage the site in a “culturally responsive way.” Azeen Zia, site supervisor for the navigation center, said Breed’s 2027 goal “is not going to happen,” and described an influx of trans people from states that have implemented anti-trans laws. Crego confirmed that his office and the organizations he works with have been inundated with calls from trans people out of state seeking resources before moving to San Francisco.

Source: Read the original report