San Francisco Budget Advocacy and Protecting Local Investments

We work to preserve and defend existing local funding for housing, services, and safety-net programs for women. Our efforts ensure that hard-won resources stay in our communities where they’re needed most.

• Prop A: $300m Affordable Housing Bond

  • Prop A is a significant local investment measure that allocates $300 million to fund affordable housing in San Francisco. The initiative supports the development and preservation of housing specifically aimed at serving low-income communities, including women and families experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity.

• Resolution Declaring San Francisco as a Sanctuary For Women Seeking Housing

  • This resolution establishes San Francisco as a safe and supportive city for women in need of housing. It underscores the city’s commitment to protecting the rights and safety of unhoused women, positioning the city as a refuge from gender-based violence and housing discrimination.

Statewide Policy Initiatives

We engage in California state legislation to push forward bills that address the unique needs of unhoused women, including gender-based violence, aging, and healthcare access.

Federal Legislative Action

We advocate for national policies that protect and uplift unhoused women, working with allies to advance federal legislation that drives long-term, systemic change.

• With the National Women’s Shelter Network, we are supporting the Women's and Family Protection Act, H.R. 3319, a bipartisan bill to better support the needs of women and children experiencing homelessness in America. As part of our advocacy, we traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with lawmakers and elevate the voices of women and families impacted by housing insecurity.

2025 NWSN National Conference in Washington, D.C (January 2025)

Community Organizing & Education

We build public understanding of the gender-specific challenges in housing by raising awareness, educating communities and organizing collective action. Through storytelling, outreach, community organizing, we mobilize women, gender-diverse people, survivors, and the broader public to support evidence-backed solutions and advance changes that allow women to live safely and with dignity.

• Protection for Women inside SF County Jail. In November 2025, it was reported that at least 19 women shared their accounts of San Francisco sheriff's deputies subjecting them to a mass strip-search inside the B-Pod of the San Francisco County Jail in May 2025. In response, the Young Women’s Freedom Center quickly began organizing to demand accountability, protection, and transparency for women inside the jail. The Women’s Housing Coalition was proud to support this response, and continues to support the women affected and the organizing efforts to bring them justice.

  • Read the speech by WHC Co-chair, Yves-Langston, at a November 2025 rally here.

• Free Your Mind SF Pop-Up. In January 2025, we were proud to partner with SF SafeHouse and the Department on the Status of Women to support Free Your Mind SF, a powerful community mental health initiative focused on serving women experiencing housing instability, sexual exploitation, or trafficking. The pop-up was held at the Hope Center in the Tenderloin, and offered vital healthcare and resource navigation support in a safe, trauma-informed space. This event was part of a broader campaign using storytelling, podcasting, and social media to uplift marginalized voices, and shared our commitment to community-led solutions that center the mental wellness and dignity of all women.

Coalition Building

We work collaboratively with organizations, policymakers, and community leaders to drive systemic change.

• Gender-Based Violence & Homelessness Coalitions Convening. In July 2025, members of the San Francisco Women’s Housing Coalition traveled to Los Angeles to participate in the Gender-Based Violence & Homelessness Coalitions Convening, hosted by the Blue Shield of California Foundation. This powerful gathering brought together survivors, advocates, providers, and policymakers from across the state, all committed to preventing gender-based violence and supporting survivors experiencing homelessness.

  As part of the convening, WHC members also toured the Downtown Women’s Center, a nationally recognized model for trauma-informed care and housing for women. Each participating city and county had the opportunity to share their local strategies and learn from one another, strengthening our statewide network dedicated to equity, safety, and housing justice.

  The experience was inspiring and energizing, reinforcing the importance of collective action in building a future free from violence and housing insecurity.

Gender-Based Violence & Homelessness Coalitions Convening (July 2025) | Photo by Alisha Jucevic

• 2025 NWSN National Conference in Washington, D.C. The San Francisco Women’s Housing Coalition was proud to send members to the 2025 NWSN National Conference in Washington, D.C., where advocates and providers from across the country came together to strengthen housing solutions for women and families.

  Through workshops, strategy sessions, and powerful conversations, our members gained new tools to support trauma-informed care and survivor-centered housing. We were especially honored to join Capitol Hill Day, advocating for increased shelter funding and voicing support for the bipartisan Women’s and Family Protection Act (H.R. 3319). This experience reaffirms our commitment to advancing policies that ensure all women have access to safety, stability, and housing.

• Inaugural Citywide Retreat on Gender-Responsive Housing Solutions. On July 7, 2023, we worked in partnership with Board President Aaron Peskin and a broad coalition of City agencies—including MOHCD, HSH, DPH, DOSW, the City Attorney’s and District Attorney’s Offices, and others—to co-host a half-day strategy retreat focused on addressing women’s homelessness in San Francisco.

  One of the most powerful outcomes of the retreat was a shared commitment to pilot gender-responsive housing solutions, specifically permanent, affordable housing for women and women-identified San Franciscans. Planning began immediately, alongside private fundraising efforts, to bring this vision to life.

  This collective momentum contributed to the passage of Proposition A, the Affordable Housing Bond, which voters approved in March 2024 with over 70% support. The measure includes $30 million dedicated to housing for survivors of gender-based violence, marking the first time in San Francisco’s history that a housing bond prioritized this population.

  We’re honored to be part of this historic movement to ensure safe, stable housing for women and survivors across our city.