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Canon Barcus Community House
Please note that this project is featured in CSH's Toolkit for Ending Long-Term Homelessness, including a profile specific to housing for long-term homless families.
The Canon Barcus House is a 48-unit permanent supportive housing apartment building for homeless, very low-income families living with special needs, particularly those related to substance use, mental health, and/or HIV/AIDS. Families have voluntary access to a wide range of services and enjoy the same tenant rights as any other San Francisco renter. Episcopal Community Services opened Canon Barcus Community House on March 19, 2002.
OVERVIEW
The Partners
The Tenants
The Building
The Services
The Funding
What Worked
COMPREHENSIVE PROFILE (word doc; 49KB, 7 pages)
The Tenants
Canon Barcus residents are very low-income families who were homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Many have mental health and substance use issues or HIV/AIDS; some have been homeless for long periods of time. Approximately 25% are involved with child protective services.
The Building
The five-story, 48-unit building includes: four one-bedroom flats, twelve two-bedroom flats and townhouses, twenty-seven three-bedroom flats and townhouses and five four-bedroom townhouses. Fifteen units have a Shelter + Care rental subsidy, and five of those units are designated for tenants with HIV/AIDS. Thirty-two units are subsidized with Project-Based Section 8. The building also has a community room, children’s program area, childcare center, health clinic, employment skills center, and staff offices.
The Services
Physical development of Canon Barcus proceeded hand-in-hand with supportive services design. The first priority for tenants is secure, stable and permanent housing. Participation in services is voluntary, not required as a condition of residency. Nearly a dozen social, health, education and related services operate on-site, including a health clinic, childcare center, after-school and tutoring for youth and teens, children’s mental health, and employment training and education.
The Funding
Capital
ECS and Mercy Housing assembled a package of public loans, bonds and grants for the $20.4 million development budget: $9.8 million in bond financing, $8 million in tax credits, and more than $2.6 million in private grants and donations.
Operating
The operating budget is $660,000 per year, $13,750 per household. Units are affordable to households earning 18%-50% of median income and supported by three income streams: McKinney Shelter Plus Care, Section 8 contract rents and tenant rents at 30% of household income. The operating budget covers staffing for a property manager, a janitor, a maintenance worker and 24-hour desk security coverage.
Services
Funding for the rich array of supportive services is a combination of public and private grant funds. ECS was the lead agency for some of these efforts, but other providers led fundraising for services provided on site. ECS’s willingness to secure independent funding for services was critical to building the service infrastructure.
BUDGETS
Development (word doc; 39KB, 3 pages)
Operating (word doc; 85KB, 4 pages)
What Worked
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Align property management and voluntary services. Participation in services is voluntary, not a condition of residency at Canon Barcus. Property managers only address property violations – and then in cooperation with case managers.
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Provide a continuum of services. The alignment of services for adults, youth and children is key to an effective family-based approach. The location of services on-site helps demystify and make them accessible.
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Be zealously entrepreneurial. Services on site need not be delivered by the host agency, and partners providing services can be recruited to help with fundraising. Exposure to the fundraising connections of partner agencies leverages existing funds and, in turn, helps expand the fundraising capacity of the host organization.
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Acknowledge family preservation. One-quarter of families at Canon Barcus interact with the local child protective services agency. Sensitivity and patience are required to work effectively with the agencies and families to ensure families receive appropriate preservation or reunification services.
Profile Acknowledgements
Integrate supportive services and physical design. Start with a clear understanding that services can inform physical design; include your partners and potential tenants early in the physical and program design and ensure there are opportunities for ongoing input and revision as the design progresses.
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