A PROGRAM OFFERING STIPENDS for landlords who provide spare bedrooms to formerly incarcerated people is coming to San Francisco.
The “Homecoming Project” allows those exiting imprisonment to secure housing by connecting them with landlords and homeowners who want to offer up an empty room. The program is from Impact Justice, a nonprofit that seeks to reduce the number of incarcerated people and provides re-entry services.
Members of Impact Justice, the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, and pairings of Homecoming Project participants and their housing hosts joined Thursday in San Francisco to celebrate expansion of the program.
“When it comes to helping people stabilize and thrive, there’s really nothing more fundamental than housing with a stable, supportive home,” said San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju in a speech.
The Homecoming Project is already offered in Alameda, Contra Costa, and Los Angeles counties. So far, the program has been able to house more than 200 formerly incarcerated people in available rooms, according to Impact Justice.
Hosts are given a stipend of $50 a day and training opportunities on mediation and conflict resolution. Those exiting prison undergo a vetting and screening process to ensure they will be a good candidate for the program.
Leaving prison behind for good
According to Impact Justice, 98% of the participants have left the program with either full-time employment or pursuits in education. None of the participants in the program have returned to prison.
“Our program was so successful in the East Bay that it enabled us to take our program to Los Angeles County,” said Impact Justice vice president of innovation programs Aishatu Yusuf in a speech. “It has now enabled us to do the most amazing thing, which is to bring this program to San Francisco.”
The re-entry program aims to help those leaving prison readjust to society and get back on their feet by providing secure housing. Because of affordability and barriers to housing for formerly incarcerated individuals, they are 10 times more likely to experience homelessness compared to the general public, according to Impact Justice.
“People who are leaving prison, many of them don’t have a home to return to,” said Bernadette Butler, the director of Impact Justice’s Housing Lab, in a statement. “Many times affordable options are scarce and often off-limits to individuals who have a criminal record.”
Philippe Kelly entered the justice system at the age of 15 and was recently released from San Quentin State Prison (now San Quentin Rehabilitation Center) in 2023.
Kelly was selected to participate in the program and lived with host Surmiche Vaughn after exiting prison. He is now an audio engineer and also works at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, an organization that advocates for criminal justice reform.
“The Homecoming Project is one of the dopest projects that’s in existence, particularly in the Bay Area,” Kelly said in a speech. “Having my own space and being able to just be with myself has allowed me to really dig into what I need to develop as a person coming out from prison.”
Program participants, hosts both benefit
Marcelino Clemente, a formerly incarcerated man, lived with Vaughn after exiting prison. He now has his own place.
“This project is a necessary program. It helps a lot, and it provides what people need to readjust to their community and after being away and so long,” Clemente said in a speech. “I would have my own space, cook my own meals, feel safe and relax. That allowed me to continue on my path.”
“It’s going to allow for my kids to come out of school next year with zero student loan debt. I’m really glad to be a part of the Homecoming Project, and anyone listening who has a spare room, I’d definitely tell you to join the organization.”
Surmiche Vaughn, Homecoming Project host
For Vaughn, the stipend provided by hosting Clemente and 18 other participants has gone toward paying for her children’s college.
“It’s going to allow for my kids to come out of school next year with zero student loan debt,” she said at the celebration. “I’m really glad to be a part of the Homecoming Project, and anyone listening who has a spare room, I’d definitely tell you to join the organization.”