Tenderloin Community Action Plan

The Tenderloin Investment Blueprint is a visionary roadmap for the neighborhood’s priorities over the next 2-5 years. It serves as an advocacy tool to secure support from local, state, federal, and philanthropic stakeholders. Rooted in extensive community engagement, the blueprint reflects the voices and aspirations of Tenderloin residents, ensuring investments address their most pressing needs and long-term goals.

The initial blueprint draft was shaped by priorities highlighted through TCAP’s community engagement in the past two years including:

• Community Voice Landscape: Participation in over 17 community-led meetings over the past two years.
• Participatory Budgeting Process: A first of its kind process relied on community sponsored and designed projects, and community votes to select projects to be implemented in the neighborhood. Project sponsors meeting quarterly to align priorities and address challenges (more under Strategic Priorities).
• TL Youth Services Gap Analysis: A study with DCYF involving 17 focus groups and interviews to identify youth service gaps (see more here).
• TCAP Small Business Stakeholder Engagement: Collaboration with OEWD and community organizations to support small businesses and revitalize commercial and culture corridors (more under Strategic Priorities)
• TCAP Public Space Working Group: A group of 16 residents, including 2 youths, working with City agencies to improve public spaces in the Tenderloin.
• TCAP Outreach Partners: TNDC and its four partner organizations reviewed the draft blueprint and designed the public vetting process.
• TL Executive Directors: Monthly leadership meetings to address community needs and maintain alignment.
• Community Open House Events: Engagement with the Tenderloin community through open house events featuring TCAP presentations and updates, gallery walks, and breakout group discussions designed to identify key Tenderloin priorities.

Review the Draft Tenderloin Investment Blueprint

The current public vetting process for the Tenderloin Investment Blueprint began with outreach to 24 identified resident groups in the Tenderloin. In addition, the engagement process also incorporates a variety of feedback mechanisms to ensure broad community input and representation, including open house, focus groups, office hours, and online survey.

TCAP Partners and SF Planning meet bi-weekly to progress the Tenderloin Investment Blueprint and raise awareness with the community.

Additionally, TCAP Partners have collaborated to develop:

• Criteria for the Public Space Working Group
• A field scan of community-led groups in the Tenderloin
• A draft resident engagement framework for TCAP 2024-25
• A timeline and process for creating the Tenderloin Investment Blueprint as a collective advocacy platform

Timeline for the Investment Blueprint

• July – December 2024: Outreach partners designed the process and prepared the first draft of the blueprint
• January – May 2025: Public vetting begins, including outreach to 24 groups, focus groups, open houses, and feedback forms.
• May – June 2025: The final blueprint is presented to the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors for endorsement and shared with funders for support.

Your Participation

• If you’re part of a Tenderloin neighborhood group or would like to schedule an informational presentation or focus group, please contact aseel.fara@sfgov.org.
• If you can’t attend but want to share your thoughts, please fill out this survey.
• View Workgroup Meetings & Notes
• View Upcoming Events & Announcements

Expanding Through Cooperation

SF Planning partnered with United Way Bay Area (UWBA) to support the implementation of the Community Action Projects. UWBA’s primary responsibility is to be the fiscal administrator for 14 of the 21 Community Action Projects. In addition, the TCAP team provided technical assistance to projects through scoping meetings, project management, data support, and problem solving.

Through cooperation and partnership with the city, the Tenderloin community expanded operations and maintenance of the Community Action projects.  They leveraged resources and gained valuable experience to create collective impact for the neighborhood, bringing unique, creative and essential services to community members.

The Project Sponsor Cohort members shared lessons learned through this community-led process in a Resource Packet.

Community Action Grants Cohort Meeting Notes

• Meeting 1 (May 24, 2023) 
• Meeting 2 (December 7, 2023) 
• Meeting 3 (April 17, 2024)

The cohort identified the following priorities to guide the implementation of the Community Action Projects through 2025. These priorities have been vetted by community members and are the foundation to the Tenderloin Investment Blueprint under the Community Engagement tab.

• Street stewardship: Maintain resources and enhance coordination among various resources for 24/7 stewardship and cleaning to create clear north-south and east-west paths for families and children in the neighborhood
• Youth Services: Restore funding for youth programming and elevate youth workforce development programs in the Tenderloin
• Public space improvement and activation: Fund art and cultural programming on a weekly basis for activating alleyways and parks in the Tenderloin.
• Community wellness: Support the most vulnerable immigrant communities, specifically Arab community, with coordinated assistance to access housing and neighborhood resources.
• Small business support: Coordinated investments and small business grants to revitalize Larkin Street as the main commercial corridor and Little Saigon.

In addition to the Community Action Projects, years of community engagement and outreach shaped the Tenderloin Community Action Plan (TCAP), ensuring it aligns with the neighborhood’s priorities. These priorities are organized into four strategic areas:

The Tenderloin community prioritized supporting small businesses through participatory budgeting, allocating $380,000 to this work. Since summer 2023, TCAP and the Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD), partnered with community organizations to host workshops and engage with business owners from diverse cultural backgrounds. These engagements have guided impactful resource allocation and complement ongoing street condition improvements and public space activation initiatives by OEWD and SF Planning to revitalize neighborhood corridors, especially Larkin Street.

Stakeholders identified Larkin Street as a priority commercial and cultural corridor for targeted investment and shaped the development of three key programs:

1. Tenderloin Business Training Grant

• Launched: May 2024
• Details: Seven businesses on Larkin Street received specialized training and individual $15,000 grants, totaling $105,000
• Businesses supported: Saigon Travel, Pho 2000, Golden Kim Tar Restaurant, Golden Lotus, J & D Hair Studio, Quong Hoa Duong Ginseng Co, and Allstar Donuts and Burgers
• Training provider: New Community Leadership Foundation (NCLF) through its Mission Possible training series

2. Tenderloin Façade Improvements Program

• Launched: September 2024
• Details: A pilot grant program for businesses on Larkin Street, Golden Gate Avenue, and Eddy Street for new awnings, signs, windows, paint and security gates. Over 20 applications were received
• Partners: Tenderloin Community Benefit District (TLCBD) and Southeast Asian Community Center
• Support: TLCBD and SEACC provide project management assistance for businesses

3. Tenderloin Vacancy Filling Program

• Launched: October 2024
• Details: Offers $50,000 per business to fill vacancies, prioritizing Larkin Street
• Partners: OEWD, Office of Small Business, SF New Deal, Small Business Development Center
• Next Steps: Tailored support for business planning, permitting, and lease negotiations to ensure successful openings

Small Business Project Timeline

• 2024 – 2025: Program outreach, application support Program implementation and monitoring funding distribution Program evaluation
• Fall-Winter 2023: Finalize investment framework for small business support funding Program funding into OEWD’s budget
• Summer 2023: Engage with OEWD, small business support stakeholders and small business owners Conduct small business corridor survey

Key Partners

Tenderloin Community Benefit District, Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation, Southeast Asian Community Center, New Community Leadership Foundation, Tenderloin Merchant Association, Tenderloin Business Coalition.

The Tenderloin has one of the highest concentrations of children and youth in San Francisco, many from immigrant families. To address their needs, the TCAP Team, in collaboration with San Francisco’s Department of Children, Youth, and Their Families (DCYF), and Tenderloin Youth Service Providers conducted a Tenderloin Youth Services Gap Analysis through focus groups and interviews. The analysis elevated the voices of Tenderloin youth and their families, especially those from immigrant households. They identified existing service gaps and informed funding decisions by DCYF for its 2024-29 funding cycle.

Key Recommendations Include:

• Additional staff support for safe navigation of children to afterschool programs
• Increase resources for low-barrier and low-structure programming for teens
• Enhance workforce development and career exposure for disconnected teens and TAY
• Culturally responsive programs for Immigrant Youth
• More outreach and programming targeted towards Tenderloin youth involved in the justice system
• Dedicated staffing and resources for a Youth Services Collaboration and Coordination Program Focusing on the Tenderloin

In April 2024, DCYF awarded over $460 million in grants to support children, youth, and families in San Francisco. The TCAP team will continue collaborating with youth service providers and the community to elevate youth voices, address gaps and improve services.

The TCAP Public Space Working Group was launched in May 2024 to improve public spaces in the Tenderloin. Review the Public Space Working Group Announcement for the application and selection process.

The working group identified four Focus Areas:

1. Transform alleys into open space and recreational opportunities
2. Designing neighborhood gateways to mark and celebrate the identity and strengths of the Tenderloin
3. Placemaking on commercial corridors to support Tenderloin residents and local businesses
4. Activating underutilized lots for recreation to increase access to open space

These efforts aim to integrate placemaking with public safety enforcement to deter drug activity, enhance quality of life, and support neighborhood recovery through positive community events and improvements.

Progress:

• Monthly meetings since May 2024
• Mapped public spaces and evaluated past activations
• Developed strategies for alley revitalization and youth-focused placemaking

Upcoming meetings in 2025 will focus on:

• Neighborhood greening
• Revitalization of alleys
• Placemaking on business corridors

Details about the Working Group and past meeting notes under the Supporting Info tab.

The Tenderloin housing strategy builds on San Francisco’s Housing Element, ongoing community engagement and the Home by the Bay Plan.

Key priorities include:

1. Improve and maintain conditions of existing deeply affordable housing assets. The existing stock of deeply affordable units is at varying degrees of quality. Poor unit quality is one reason unhoused individuals reject housing offers or eventually exit their housing units back to homelessness.
2. Protect vulnerable residents at most risk of homelessness. There is a high concentration of vulnerable residents, such as seniors, youth, individuals living with disabilities, and families with children, living in the Tenderloin. Tenderloin residents are the lowest wage earners in comparison to other San Francisco residents, therefore have a higher likelihood of facing eviction and require more protections and subsidies to stabilize them.
3. Preserve affordability of existing assets through acquisition. Tenderloin’s housing stock consists of SROs and multifamily buildings that have lower price points compared to the rest of the city. The City’s acquisition strategy, including State investments such as Project Homekey, has intended to distribute these assets throughout the city and avoid concentrating these resources further in the Tenderloin. Tenderloin also is home to many SRO units in master leased properties in a state of disrepair due to the ownership and operations structure.
4. Expand on-site case management services, especially behavioral health and substance use. A large portion of PSH and SRO residents struggle with mental health issues and increasingly substance use disorders. Formerly unhoused individuals also require intensive care to be able to live indoors. The ratios of service providers to residents are currently low at many of these units which results in many incidents, damages, and challenges in the permanent supportive housing (PSH) buildings.
5. Improve access to affordable housing suitable for families with children and Transitional Aged Youth. The Tenderloin's diverse population is uniquely comprised of special populations, which include families with children and Transitional Aged Youth (TAY), populations that are generally ignored when building housing.
6. Reduce vacancies in existing permanent supportive housing. High vacancy rates in PSH have been a highly discussed multi-faceted issue. Poor unit conditions are one of the main reasons for high vacancy as discussed under Priority 1. Other factors include long processing delays from the Coordinated Entry System as well as high staff turnover. Street conditions also play a major role in high vacancies.

More information of our work in this area can be found here.