The Tenderloin Self-Help Center at 290 Turk Street

Mission:
To build community strength by advocating policies and rendering services which foster self-sufficiency and cultural enrichment. Hospitality House encourages self-help, mutual respect, and enhanced self-esteem. The goal of these efforts is to make the heart of San Francisco a better place for us all.

History:
Founded in 1967, Hospitality House was born out of a community response to the large influx of gay and lesbian youth converging on the Tenderloin area and becoming involved in vice-traffic activities as a means of survival. The community joined the youth to form Hospitality House.

As the needs of the neighborhood changed, Hospitality House adapted to meet them. Today, Hospitality House serves primarily adult residents of the Tenderloin and is committed to providing peer-led services that respond to the social, political, economic, and cultural needs of the neighborhood. Through its four separate, but inter-related, programs Hospitality House provides a range of services:


The Tenderloin Self-Help Center
A street-level drop-in community center located in the heart of the Tenderloin that provides peer counseling services, mental health and substance use services, vocational resources, opportunities for social engagement, and access to basic amenities such as restrooms, phones, email, mail service, grocery distribution, and street respite.

The Community Arts Program
A street-level drop-in art center that provides free-of-charge access to creative resources, materials, and instruction. Participants have the opportunity to create various mediums of art, which they are then able to exhibit and sell. This rare therapeutic, creative outlet in the heart of the neighborhood provides a social and cultural oasis in a neighborhood with few similar opportunities.

The Shelter & Supportive Services for Housing Program
San Francisco’s smallest and oldest shelter, Hospitality House provides 30 emergency shelter spaces for adult men each night accompanied by comprehensive case management services and assistance with housing placement and retention. The program utilizes its small size and intimate setting to work closely with each resident in developing a case plan that will support them in overcoming whatever personal obstacles stand between them and stable independent living. Two housing case managers work with residents not only to find independent housing, but also to maintain it after leaving the shelter.

The Sixth Street Self-Help Center
Hospitality House's newest program, the Sixth Street Self Help Center, is modeled after the Tenderloin Self Help Center and offers similar services, including: peer counseling, vocational resources, mental health triage, harm reduction services, holistic health and wellness services, and access to basic ammenities. The site, located along the Sixth Street Corridor in Western SoMa, recently opened its doors to the public .


Open Mic at the Community Arts Program

For more information, visit www.hospitalityhouse.org.