The City unveiled a new center on Thursday that will be a mobile office in an effort to meet San Franciscans who rely on Medi-Cal or CalFresh where they are.
The San Francisco Human Services Agency is launching a new mobile benefits center to try to better reach residents who rely on social safety net programs.
The center, a large vehicle, was unveiled on Thursday at 5630 Mission Street and will be parked at different sites over the next month in partnership with community organizations, such as GLIDE, to connect with residents who might not be able or willing to go into the department’s physical offices to handle their benefits.
“This gives us just another way for the community to manage their benefits,” said Trent Rhorer, the executive director of the Human Services Agency. “Either to apply or retain them. ” There are 220,000 people on Medi-Cal in San Francisco, as well as 112,000 people on CalFresh, the state’s iteration of food stamps. Eligibility for some has changed under the implementation of President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which passed last summer.
Previously, people had to renew their Medi-Cal benefits once a year; now it’s twice a year, among other changes. Recipients have to interact with the agency at some point, either over the phone or in person, in order to maintain their benefits. Rhorer said that he and his colleagues are concerned that this might be a barrier for some.
“HSA used to have a benefits office in the southeast, and we lost that building, so we no longer have an office out in the southeast,” Rhorer said. “That's an example of an area where we have a higher percentage of low-income households that may not be accessing benefits because either they can't navigate the online benefits portal, or they don't want to, or can't come down to the Civic Center office.
” Many benefits recipients are part of mixed immigration status households, in which one or more residents could be undocumented, he said. With the current political climate, some folks might avoid going into any government building.
“There is a lot of fear and trepidation in immigrant communities about coming into a government building,” he said. “They don't necessarily distinguish the local government, City of San Francisco, from a federal building. Government is government. ” The mobile center won’t roam The City like an ice cream truck, but will instead be parked at set locations throughout the week around The City.
An official calendar hasn’t been settled on yet, but the agency is in communication with community organizations about participating in the program, said agency spokesperson Noel Sanchez. Ex // Top Stories Supervisor wants to bring Market Street's future into focus District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood is calling on city departments to discuss their plans for investing in the Mid-Market area Good times remain constant in SF this week with these 18 events The City's seven-day slate will see award-winning musicals, world-premiere dance productions and a celebration of Dutch culture 'Hamnet' gets Royal Shakespeare Company treatment in SF Before the Oscar-winning film, the play was the thing.
Rhorer said he’s been encouraged by conversations so far, such as with San Francisco City College. There have been some changes to student eligibility for CalFresh, making it a lot easier for students to enroll.
“It's perfect for a student during the school day,” he said. Instead of having to go into their physical office across town, “they can, during their break in class or lunch break, pop in. ” Around five staff members will operate out of the vehicle, which will include a 3D printer for making new CalFresh and EBT cards, a couple of pods for individual conversations, and a wheelchair lift.
The program was funded through a $1 million grant from Share Our Strength, a national nonprofit, separate from The City’s budget.
“Our administration is working to reduce the cost of living and make our city more affordable for all San Francisco families," said Kunal Modi, the chief of San Francisco Health and Human Services in a statement on Thursday. "In partnership with the Human Services Agency, we’re making it easier for families to access food assistance and health care coverage, ensuring the most vulnerable in our city are protected.
” Other benefits that staff will assist with include two cash benefits programs — CalWORKs, for eligible families with dependent children or pregnant individuals, and County Adult Assistance Programs , for low-income adults without dependent children. While this is a new permanent program, Rhorer said he and his colleagues will be collecting data on its progress, such as which locations see a higher volume of people and what services for people are most in demand.
“We're taking people out of the office, offline, to go into the van and do the work,” he said. “We want to make sure that the demand is there. ”
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