SF Mayor willing to 'compromise' on Navigation Center in Rincon Hill

ByLuz Pena KGO logo
Wednesday, April 3, 2019
Pushback on social media prompts SF Mayor to reconsider Navigation Center in Rincon Hill
Dueling fundraisers over a site in San Francisco. One side supports the idea of turning it into a navigation center for the homeless, and the other opposes it.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Dueling fundraisers over a site in San Francisco. One side supports the idea of turning it into a navigation center for the homeless, and the other opposes it.

The voices and money of over 15,000 people on two GoFundMe pages caught the attention of San Francisco Mayor London Breed. For the first time, Breed is willing to reconsider her initial plan for a navigation center with 225 beds in Rincon Hill.

"You know one of the conversations that is being had now is 'are there too many beds.' Ok, I hear that it's too many beds so maybe starting at a lower number and giving you a chance to see if it works could be a compromise," said Breed.

Over 200 people are willing to pay for an attorney to fight the proposal and have raised more than $80,000 on a GoFundMe page called "Safe Embarcadero".

Breed wishes the money would go toward something else, "People have the right to do what they feel they want to do. But, I would love to be able to use that money instead for landscape and for services for something that is going to lead to really helping people."

The location is a prime piece of real estate. It's a parking lot along the Embarcadero not far from the home of the Giants, Oracle Park and soon to be home of the Warriors, the Chase Center.

Marcus Da Cunha lives a block from the future navigation center and doesn't agree with the proposal.

"I'm for the program and think the, but the location of a shelter in this neighborhood does not take into consideration the dynamics of this neighborhood," said Da Cunha.

After seeing the "Safe Embarcadero" GoFundMe page, William Fitzgerald opened another GoFundMe account to support the center, he called his "Safer Embarcadero for All". He's raised over $140,000 and Bay Area Executives are also pitching it.

"Some people who give like $50 that's probably so meaningful for them than when Mark Benioff gives $10,000. So it's less about the famous people, it's more about the common day San Franciscans," said Fitzgerald.

Wednesday, April 3 at 6 PM at the Delancey Street Foundation, San Francisco's Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing along with the port are scheduled to have a public meeting about the navigation center.