Funding for the Mission, Central City, Chinatown and Families SRO Collaboratives is being restored, thanks to an arrangement where the Department of Building Inspection will become their new City contractor. DBI has long provided the bulk of funding for the Collaboratives, but the Health Department was the contracting agency. Each year, DPH would cut the Collaboratives out of the budget – in a game of political football that was exhausting and unproductive. “This will be an efficiency for the City,” said DBI Director Vivian Day, “and we do not expect any decrease in service at all.” Supervisors John Avalos and David Campos expressed gratitude at yesterday’s Budget Committee, and said the Collaboratives – which provide front-line services for low-income tenants – have long been a priority. “We are thrilled,” said Jeff Buckley of the Central City SRO Collaborative. “It is something that SRO housing advocates have wanted for years, and will be a great asset for tenants to access services with more stable funding.”

The Tenderloin Housing Clinic – which publishes Beyond Chron – is the fiscal sponsor of the Central City SRO Collaborative.