Friends & neighbors,

I am thrilled to share that the Kaplan Family Oasis Shelter had its grand re-opening last week, and is now a permanent emergency drop-in shelter serving homeless families. After years of an incredible community-led campaign, this crucial part of our shelter network is here to stay.

Three years ago, at the beginning of the pandemic–and even before the City’s shelter-in-place program–my office worked with advocates to raise the funds necessary to move families sleeping on mats on a basement floor in our district to hotel rooms so they could be safe and practice social distancing. The initial move to the Oasis Inn was made possible through the generous donations of so many people who knew that in order to make it through the pandemic together, we couldn’t leave anyone behind.

With our support, Providence Foundation rented 25 rooms, then 35, and eventually the whole hotel. The building manager took a chance, effectively launching the first SIP hotel before San Francisco had SIP hotels. By every possible metric, it was a huge success.

Two years later, when the Oasis was about to be put up for sale and was at risk of closing, a robust campaign was launched to save the Oasis, led by homeless and formerly homeless mothers and parents and supported by the Coalition on Homelessness. This was an incredible pressure campaign that never lifted its foot off the gas. They wrote letters, held protests and rallies, and lifted their stories in the media. They worked with our office on a resolution from the Board of Supervisors that passed unanimously in December 2022. And it worked. If it had not been for these families sharing their stories and showing how important the Oasis is for the good of the whole city, we wouldn’t be where we are today. 

I want to recognize the vision of Nils Behnke and his team at St. Anthony’s as well as the very generous gift from the Kaplan Family Trust. Together with Prop. C funding from the city, these funds made this outcome possible. 

I also want to thank the hundreds of people who contributed what they could to the GoFundMe campaign, to the dedicated staff at Providence Foundation for operating the Oasis, to the countless people who stood up and spoke out with and for the women and families who call the Oasis their home, and to the brave unhoused families who shared their stories, I can’t thank you enough. This victory, more than three years in the making, shows that with determination and compassion, we can come together to help people in their time of need.

More about the story of the Kaplan Family Oasis Shelter: