A San Francisco nonprofit has organized an outreach day to assist unhoused women in the city this week in the hopes that city government will appreciate the special needs of this population.  

Community Forward SF, an agency that assists unhoused people, on Tuesday will provide outreach to unhoused women in the Tenderloin and South of Market (SoMa) neighborhoods.  

The organization has been trying to spearhead the creation of a women-only shelter space in San Francisco. Shelters can be dangerous and violent places for anyone experiencing homelessness, but especially for more vulnerable people and women.  

According to Community Forward, in a survey of unhoused women taken by the California Policy Lab, a research group associated with the University of California, 80 percent of unhoused women reported domestic abuse or violence as the cause of their homelessness. 

Women are often invisible within the homeless population. … This outreach event will be a chance to directly show care and offer tangible help to women in need while demonstrating the urgent need for more services to civic and philanthropic leaders. Sammie Rayner, Community Forward SF

Each year as many as 6,000 women and non-binary individuals experience homelessness in San Francisco, Community Forward SF said.  

“Women are often invisible within the homeless population,” said Sammie Rayner, Chief Impact Officer at Community Forward SF in a statement released by the organization. “This outreach event will be a chance to directly show care and offer tangible help to women in need while demonstrating the urgent need for more services to civic and philanthropic leaders.”  

The day will also be a chance to gather data on the needs of women who are experiencing homelessness, the organization said. For example, Civic Center Plaza is a “hot spot” for human trafficking, Community Forward said, and the women who are victims of that exploitation “deserve services designed for their unique needs.”  

The outreach will take place on Tuesday and begin around 3:30 p.m. For more information, go to the nonprofit’s website.

Katy St. Clair got her start in journalism by working in the classifieds department at the East Bay Express during the height of alt weeklies, then sweet talked her way into becoming staff writer, submissions editor, and music editor. She has been a columnist in the East Bay Express, SF Weekly, and the San Francisco Examiner. Starting in 2015, she begrudgingly scaled the inverted pyramid at dailies such as the Vallejo Times-Herald, The Vacaville Reporter, and the Daily Republic. She has her own independent news site and blog that covers the delightfully dysfunctional town of Vallejo, California, where she also collaborates with the investigative team at Open Vallejo. A passionate advocate for people with developmental disabilities, she serves on both the Board of the Arc of Solano and the Arc of California. She lives in Vallejo.