The day before Veteran's Day, there's some good news for veterans: A new 70-unit permanent supportive housing site for chronically homeless vets is set to open in San Francisco.
The Auburn Hotel, a new 70-unit housing site at 481 Minna St., will open in about a month. It will have a bed, dresser, mini-refrigerator, microwave and flat screen television in every unit, the city's Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing said.
Delivering Innovation in Supportive Housing, a San Francisco nonprofit, will manage the property, and Episcopal Community Services of San Francisco will provide on-site support services, city officials said.
"Permanent supportive housing" refers to such things as long-term rental assistance and other help for people with chronic illness, disabilities, mental health issues or substance use disorders who have experienced long-term or repeated homelessness.
"Nobody should have to live on the streets, especially those who have served our country," Jeff Kositsky, director of the Department of Homelessness, said in a statement.
"Thanks to permanent supportive housing sites such as the Auburn, we are coming ever closer to ending chronic homelessness for veterans in San Francisco," he added.
Three other permanent supportive units opened in the last year: The Crown, with 50 units, the National, with 100 units, and the Winton Hotel, with 104 units.
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These three house both chronically homeless veterans and non-veterans, city officials said, while the Auburn is solely for chronically homeless veterans.
In more good news for veterans, this year, the city's Assessor-Recorder granted $16.5 million in property tax exemptions to disabled veterans who own and live in their homes, according to city officials.
The Disabled Veterans' Exemption is a statewide program. It helps disabled veterans save on property taxes by deducting up to $196,262 worth of assessed value from their property's total assessed value.
This can yield as much as $2,300 in savings on property taxes, city officials said.
In 2017, 151 applicants qualified for the program, according to city officials.
To qualify, veterans must be disabled because of a service-related injury or disease suffered while in the armed forces, and must be California residents who own and occupy the property as their principal residence.
