Dear Mid-Market Business Association & Foundation Members and Partners,

We wanted to send a quick note letting you know that today, January 18^th, marks the launch of the new Tenderloin Linkage Center at 1172 Market Street in UN Plaza. The Tenderloin Linkage Center is part of San Francisco’s Tenderloin Emergency Initiative announced by Mayor London Breed and ratified by the Board of Supervisors in late December.  The Tenderloin Linkage Center is meant to promote a thriving community and save lives through overdose prevention and connecting people to care and services.

The Center, located at 1172 Market Street, will initially operate seven days a week from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Currently, it is operating at a reduced capacity due to the impacts of COVID-19. The Center will expand to operate 24 hours-a-day and 7 days-a-week and have the capacity to serve 100 guests at a time.

Basic services such as hot food; water; hygiene services such as laundry, bathrooms, and showers; personal protective equipment (PPE); and more are available at the Center. Weekly wellness programs will also be hosted there to provide services like COVID-19 vaccination and testing as well as HIV and Hepatitis C testing. Additionally, the new Tenderloin Linkage Center will connect people to short- and long-term services, care, and programs. The Linkage Center also has a fenced, outdoor resting area and has brought additional lighting to the plaza.

Programs and services include, but are not limited to:

·    Behavioral health care  

·    Shelter 

·    Transitional housing 

·    Housing assistance 

·    Homeward bound 

·    Sobering, detox and respite 

·    Substance use treatment 

·    Food coordination 

·    Vocational support 

·    Therapy and mentoring 

·    Child and family care 

·    Veteran support

People can self-present to the Center or arrive via vehicle or foot escort from a community partner, if requested. Tenderloin Linkage Center staff, including escorts, are provided by community-based organizations including HealthRIGHT 360, Urban Alchemy and Project Homeless Connect.

In addition to the launch of the Center, the City is coordinating resources to address the challenges facing the Tenderloin as part of the broader intervention. MMBA staff are working closely everyday with city agencies and other community-based organizations as part of this effort.

In addition to the launch of the center, today the MMBA/Foundation expanded the footprint of our Community Based Safety Program by deploying Urban Alchemy Practitioners throughout UN Plaza. We’ll share more updates about the Community Based Safety Program in our next newsletter email update. Make sure to sign up for those at www.midmarketbusinessassociation.com if you have not already done so.

Please stay tuned for a virtual community meeting co-hosted by Mid-Market Business Association & Foundation and our partners at the Civic Center CBD on February 1^st10:30am.

We will be joined by staff from Department of Emergency Management to share updates about the Linkage Center and the Tenderloin Emergency Initiative overall. An invitation and Eventbrite with more information will be coming soon.

You can read the full press release for the Tenderloin Linkage Center here.

For more information on the Tenderloin Emergency Initiative, including weekly situation reports, visit sf.gov/TenderloinInitiative.