Children drawing with chalk
Photo: Felix Uribe, Courtesy of Tenderloin Community Benefit District

Tenderloin Community Action Plan

Voting for the participatory budgeting process has ended and final results are now available. Tenderloin residents and workers voted December 9-23, 2022 to inform the City on which projects should receive funding during June 2023-June 2025.

Learn more about the participatory budgeting process and project.

The Tenderloin Community Action Plan is a neighborhood-driven collaboration between residents, community organizations, businesses, and City agencies. Participating residents, community-based organization representatives, and small businesses will identify current needs for the neighborhood’s diverse population, develop a collective vision for Tenderloin’s future, then develop an action plan for top priorities identified by the community. These priorities include: housing and homelessness, open space, health and wellness, transit and mobility, economic development, arts and culture, and environmental justice. 

Tenderloin residents, community-based organizations, and small businesses collaborate in the Community Stakeholder Group’s (CSG) monthly meetings to direct the city’s implementation of the Plan. Stakeholders can also participate in the various working groups that analyze local issues and support the general group by proposing solutions and advising decisions. Both the CSG and Working Groups provide recommendations on projects or programs to the Planning office and other implementing agencies. 

The Tenderloin Community Action Plan aims to focus on the needs of the neighborhood’s diverse and vulnerable populations. 

These include:  

  • Black 
  • American Indian 
  • Latinx 
  • Asian Pacific Islander  
  • Middle Eastern/Arab   
  • Other communities of color  
  • low-income people 
  • people living with disabilities  
  • seniors 
  • families and youth 
  • LGBTQIA++ 
  • unsheltered residents 

Process and Scope

Team Structure

The Department of Emergency Management’s (DEM) Tenderloin Street Operations Manager will oversee ongoing operations, including street conditions response, with the involvement of the Department of Public Health, Homelessness and Supportive Housing, Public Works, Department of Emergency Management, SF Police Department, and the SF Fire Department. 

The San Francisco Planning Department's Tenderloin Community Planning Manager will manage the Tenderloin Community Action Plan development and implementation, coordinate with City agencies, decision-makers, and community members. Along with the manager, four Planning Department staff – with expertise in long-range planning, data analysis and reporting, plus Tenderloin-specific community development experience – will address the implementation of short-, middle- and long-term solutions. 

Governing Process

A participatory governance process is being developed to preserve community input during the implementation of the Tenderloin Community Action Plan. Register to join this governance process for residents and for community-based organizations and small business representatives. 

process flowchart

Draft Tenderloin Community Action Plan Boundary Map

Tenderloin Neighborhood Map

The Tenderloin Neighborhood Map shares the boundaries used by SF Planning and Department of Public Health for data analysis and resource allocation.

Map of area

Joint Field Operations Boundary Map

The Joint Field Operations work within the boundaries of the Action Plan boundary map.

action plan boundary map

The following outlines the project’s schedule:

ORGANIZE 

Fall 2020

  • Identify stakeholders 
  • Develop schedule and key dates 
DEVELOP VISION 

Summer 2020 - Winter 2021

  • Engage with community members 
  • Collect background information/research 
  • Identify Key Issues and Priorities 
  • Develop guiding principals 
EXPLORE AND PRIORITIZE STRATEGIES

Winter 2021-Summer 2022

  • Develop and evaluate strategies and actions with community and City agency partners  
  • Conduct approximately 60 listening sessions/stakeholder meetings
  • Implement Community Survey
  • Prioritize strategies and actions 
  • Revise and refine draft action plan 
  • Form and gather Community Stakeholder Group and Working Groups 
FINALIZE ACTION PLAN

Fall 2022 -Winter 2022

  • Finalize Phase 1 Action Plan (near term implementation actions) 
  • Continue regular Community Stakeholder Group and Working Group meetings 
  • Draft Phase 2 (mid-term) and Phase 3 (long-term) Action Plans 
IMPLEMENT 

Winter 2022 - Summer 2025

  • Collaborate with community and partners to implement strategies and action plans 
  • Monitor progress and maintain implementation outcomes database 
  • Continue regular Community Stakeholder Group and Working Group meetings 
What is the Tenderloin Community Action Plan?

The Tenderloin Community Action Plan (TCAP) is a neighborhood-driven collaboration between residents, community organizations, businesses, and City agencies. The Plan identifies current needs for the neighborhood’s diverse culture and population and provides a collective vision for Tenderloin’s future. It will serve as the third phase of Mayor Breed’s Tenderloin Emergency Initiative.

Based on the Tenderloin Vision 2020 plan and a year of outreach and engagement, as well as the Emergency Initiative, the action plan will implement projects and programs in the following priorities identified by the community: health and wellness, housing and houselessness, open space, transit and mobility, economic development, arts and culture, and environmental justice.

The Plan is directed by Tenderloin residents and community-based organizations who advise the city’s efforts to implement said projects and programs. Stakeholders can also participate in the various working groups that analyze local issues and support the general group by proposing solutions and advising decisions. Both the CSG and Working Groups provide direct recommendations to the Planning office and other implementing agencies.

What are we trying to do?

The TCAP seeks to address the immediate public health and safety crisis in the Tenderloin while implementing medium and long-term actions to ensure residents and businesses are safer, more secure, and have more opportunities to thrive.

Who is this affecting?

The TCAP aims to meet the needs of the neighborhood’s residents, community-based organizations, and businesses.

Why are Planning and DEM working together?

Planning has a long history of working with community and City agencies in the neighborhood and has long standing relationships with community leaders and stakeholders. The Department has a wealth of experience in convening City agencies to achieve common goals and meet the needs of communities, including the Mission Action Plan 2020, Sustainable Chinatown, and Outer Mission/Excelsior Action Plan. These Plans were managed by the Planning Department, developed in partnership with community, and implemented with City agencies, community-based organizations, residents, and businesses.

Planning has already spent over two years working with the community, and we are familiar with the needs of the neighborhood. This is an opportunity for Planning to ensure implementation of the Tenderloin Community Action Plan with dedicated resources.

The Department of Emergency Management originally led the Mayor’s Tenderloin Emergency Initiative and was responsible for the crisis phase of the project. As the Initiative moves to a phase of sustained operations, the City will continue coordinating as they have since the beginning. Joint Field Operations will continue to facilitate a daily assessment of the neighborhood, coordinate needs and actions for the day, and communicate the status of those commitments. Now that we are moving out of the initial emergency phase and into sustaining operations, a different City agency must take the lead as of July 1, 2022. The Department of Emergency Management will continue working at the operational and street coordination level.

What happened on July 1, 2022?

The Planning Department began to serve as the lead agency. The Department’s Tenderloin Action Plan team serves as the coordinators of sustained operations; the City agency convener to discuss, refine, and implement projects and programs, facilitate and ensure an equitable community governing process, and gather and report data to share progress to meet outcomes. We will continue to share data publicly on the dashboard, and as we finalize the near, medium, and long-term actions in the Plan over the next six months, we will identify the metrics and corresponding data for each goal.

The Tenderloin is a unique neighborhood with a range of perspectives, with the highest density of children in the city, and high concentrations of communities of color, seniors, people living with disabilities, artists, and community-based organizations and merchants. The neighborhood has long been a refuge for immigrants and the LGBTQ+ communities.

The Tenderloin has a long-standing history of activism and resiliency. The Uptown Historic District, the nation’s first Transgender District, North of Market Special Use District, and the Hotel Conversion Ordinance are a few examples of community-based efforts that preserve and protect affordable housing and tenants and celebrate the neighborhood’s diversity. Today, several community organizations and residents are continuing this tradition. Highlighting one of these achievements, the Tenderloin People’s Congress engaged over 1,200 community members in a conversation envisioning the neighborhood’s future in 2017, which resulted in the Vision 2020 Plan and sparked advocacy for the creation of the Tenderloin Community Action Plan.

On December 17, 2021, Mayor Breed declared an official 90-day State of Emergency in the Tenderloin, allowing the City to waive certain laws to more quickly respond to the conditions relating to the health and safety of the people in the neighborhood. As the operational lead, the Department of Emergency Management (DEM) drafted the Tenderloin Emergency Initiative (TEI). The TEI is a three-phase plan that outlines an initial assessment of conditions, crisis operations and plans for sustained operations in the Tenderloin to help stabilize conditions on the street.

The City recognizes that Tenderloin Community Action Plan is in alignment with community values and vision for the neighborhood. As crisis operations in Phase II (December 17, 2021 – March 17, 2022) of the Tenderloin Emergency Initiative transitions to Sustained Operations in Phase III, management transition from DEM to the Planning Department (CPC). The Tenderloin Community Action Plan, as of July 1st, 2022 includes Phase III, Sustained Operations, of the Tenderloin Emergency Initiative.

Partners

We are collaborating with community-based organizations in the Tenderloin and City agencies that manage and administer work in the neighborhood.

Community-based Organizations
  • Tenderloin People’s Congress
  • Tenderloin Community Benefit District
  • Central City SRO Collaborative
  • Boys and Girls Club
  • Code Tenderloin
  • Urban Alchemy
  • The Healing Well
  • Faithful Fools
  • Glide
  • La Voz
  • Familias de la Tenderloin
  • La Cocina
  • Downtown Streets Team
  • Tenderloin Housing Clinic
  • St. Anthony’s
  • HomeRise
  • Block Safety Groups
  • Southeast Asian Community Center
  • Southeast Asian Development Center
  • Chinatown Community Development Corporation
  • San Francisco Community Health
  • Tenderloin Merchants Association
  • Transgender Cultural District
  • Mid-Market Business Association
  • Civic Center Business District
  • Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation
  • WalkSF
  • Bicycle Coalition
  • Hospitality House
City Agencies and Offices
  • Mayor’s Office
  • District 5 Supervisor’s Office
  • Department of Public Health
  • Department of Public Works
  • Department of Emergency Management
  • San Francisco Arts Commission
  • San Francisco Human Rights Commission
  • Department of Children, Youth & Their Families
  • District Attorney’s Office
  • Department of Building Inspections
  • San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
  • Office of Economic and Workforce Development
  • Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing
  • Healthy Streets Operations Center
  • San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency
  • Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development
  • Recreation and Parks Department
  • Fire Department
  • Police Department
  • Planning Department

Community planning has the best outcomes when people with a broad range of perspectives and experiences contribute to the conversation

How can you participate in the Community Stakeholder Group or Working Group Meetings? 

You can also visit the Contact tab, and email one of the Tenderloin Community Action Plan staff.  

Community Stakeholder Group

The Community Stakeholder Group is comprised of residents, community-based organization representatives, and businesses who will guide decision-making for the implementation of the Tenderloin Community Action Plan. The group should ensure that the governing body remains accountable to the diverse resident communities and stakeholders within the Tenderloin. The CSG will discuss ideas and actions brought forth by the Working Groups.  

Meetings Schedule: see the Meetings tab. 

Working Groups

Each of the three Working Groups will discuss and deliberate over implementation of Plan action items for their respective topics. Working groups gather and analyze information about implementation actions, provide feedback, and develop visions for the longer-term. Working Groups will make recommendations to the City after wider discussion at the Community Stakeholder Group (any registered participant in the Community Stakeholder Group can attend a Working Group; Tenderloin residents who are not registered participants in the CSG can also be invited to participate).

Meetings Schedule: see the Meetings tab. 

Listening Sessions

The Planning Department is hosting Listening Sessions to integrate concerns and solutions from Tenderloin communities into Sustained Operations planning and implementation. If interested in a listening session with the team, visit the Contact tab and email one of the Tenderloin Community Action Plan staff.

Register to join the Community Stakeholders Group meetings for residents or for community-based organizations and small business representatives. 

Community Stakeholder Group Meetings

Meetings will be held on the 3rd Thursday of the month, from 5:30PM to 7:00PM, and will be hybrid in nature (online and in-person neighborhood locations such as Code Tenderloin, YMCA, and locations for Spanish, Vietnamese, and Arabic-speaking community members). 

Links to detail items will appear as they become available.

MEETING DETAILS
2022, September 15
2022, October 18
2022, November 17

Governance Structure Working Sessions

MEETING DETAILS
2023, January and February

Other Meetings and Events

Participatory Budgeting Workshops
November 10, 2022 – In-Person at Boeddeker Clubhouse
November 3, 2022 – Online

Planning Commission – October 20, 2022

Community Conversations – October 5, 2021

Working Group Meetings

Working Groups will meet bi-weekly. A schedule will be available soon.