San Francisco, CA — Mayor London N. Breed, the Office of Economic Workforce Development, Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development, San Francisco Arts Commission, and Community Vision Capital & Consulting today announced $3.3 million in awards for nonprofit space acquisition and lease stabilization. The San Francisco Nonprofit Sustainability Initiative (NSI) provides funding to community organizations, including neighborhood arts and cultural institutions, to protect and expand critical services for residents.
NSI deploys financial assistance, professional services, and training to help mitigate one-time costs and build resources for San Francisco-based nonprofits. The grantees awarded serve neighborhoods citywide, including residents in Chinatown, the Tenderloin, South of Market, the Castro, and the Mission, where they will continue to stay rooted in their communities and contribute to the long-term cultural vitality of San Francisco.
Real estate and occupancy expenses are the second-highest cost for many businesses, and can destabilize nonprofits that provide essential services and resources.
“The pandemic has shown us just how critical the services our nonprofits provide and the important role they play in our communities,” said Mayor Breed. “The Nonprofit Sustainability Initiative not only allows organizations to acquire and lease space during a time when it has become increasingly difficult to do so, but it provides them with an opportunity to strengthen their resources and remain deeply rooted in the community.”
Since the NSI announced its first awards five years ago in May 2017, the City has awarded $17.6 million in financial assistance to help community-focused nonprofits acquire permanent space and stabilize leases. Seventeen organizations have been awarded grants for permanent space, including 14 Black, Asian, Latino and Filipino-led organizations, populations that have historically faced disparities in philanthropic giving and barriers to growth.
Overall, the NSI has supported the creation of 161,097 square feet of permanent, newly nonprofit-owned space throughout the City. Furthermore, over 200 nonprofits have received grants or professional services to build resources and support real estate stabilization in addition to overall sustainability.
“San Francisco’s nonprofits are trailblazers and stalwart providers who often bridge the gap between city resources and the communities that need them most. And, they are mission-driven businesses that face barriers to growth and stability. We know the value that trusted providers bring to keep our communities safe, feed hungry families, and shelter unhoused residents. These awards will help nonprofits weather future storms by providing much-needed stability today,” said Kate Sofis, the Executive Director of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development.
San Francisco has nearly 7,000 nonprofits, including a workforce that often works in partnership with the City to address complex challenges and the needs of its residents. The underlying objective of NSI is to ensure access to quality-of-life resources as well as education, health, and human services for residents of San Francisco, and real estate assistance is a cornerstone of the program.
“It’s hard to overstate the importance of the NSI investment to Chinatown CDC. On a pragmatic level, this grant will allow us to consolidate our operations to foster collaboration and efficiencies and expand our program offerings directly to and in the Chinatown community. On a spiritual level, this grant will allow Chinatown CDC to return home on multiple levels, said Malcolm Yeung, Executive Director of the Chinatown Community Development Center (CCDC). “As a place-based organization, the impact of being in the place that you serve is immeasurable. The office we are moving into is also the first office we rented in our formative years back in the 1980’s. So, to now have the opportunity to turn our FIRST home into our PERMANENT home ensures that CCDC will forever be rooted in Chinatown.”
“It takes the hood to save the hood. From the elementaries to the penitentiaries, this center will provide services for literacy and restorative justice. I would like to thank everybody who has been involved in this project and helped to make it happen, and most definitely Mayor London Breed,” said Rudy Corpuz, Jr., Founding Director of United Playaz.
“With this award, we’ll be able to create our vision of a BIPOC Sanctuary, a dance studio dedicated to cultural enrichment, health and wellness for everyone to enjoy. The importance of this project for PUSH Dance Company, was to create an ADA-accessible dance floor that faced many financial obstacles from the recovery and pandemic, but we remained resilient and determined to make an inclusive place for everyone,” said Raissa Simpson, Artistic Director of PUSH Dance Company.