Mayor London Breed joined Airbnb and Twilio in announcing a $2.7 million commitment to Rising Up, a public-private partnership which aims to cut youth homelessness in half by the end of 2022.
Launched by Mayor London Breed in October 2018 with Larkin Street Youth Services selected as the anchor institution, Rising Up will provide temporary housing subsidies and job-placement services to more than 500 young people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco.
Airbnb is contributing $2 million and Twilio an additional $700,000 to support Rising Up and help Larkin Street Youth Services scale and build capacity. Airbnb and Twilio’s donations to Rising Up are in addition to the initial $6 million funding commitment from the City of San Francisco and $3 million from the non-profit Tipping Point Community.
“Youth homelessness is a crisis throughout California, and in San Francisco we are working to get our young people housed and employed so we can prevent them from becoming chronically homeless,” said Mayor Breed. “I’m grateful that Airbnb and Twilio are joining the City, Larkin Street and Tipping Point in putting resources towards supporting our youth. Together I know we can achieve the goal of Rising Up — to cut youth homelessness in half in San Francisco by 2022.”
Last year Airbnb and Twilio announced each company’s continued commitment to help tackle homelessness.
Airbnb’s $2 million donation is part of its $5 million commitment to help tackle homelessness over the next three years. This funding builds on Airbnb’s contributions and long standing partnerships with organizations dedicated to addressing homelessness, including Hamilton Families, SF Marin Food Bank and Larkin Street Youth Services. Airbnb will continue to work with a coalition of experts across government, community organizations, and other private sector entities to ensure the remaining $3 million in funds are directed to the most pressing and urgent needs.
“Shelter is a basic need, yet on any given night, nearly 1,200 young people sleep on San Francisco streets. This is our hometown, and we have a responsibility to help those young people in need of housing and job opportunities,” said Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky. “We’re proud to work with Mayor Breed and our local partners to help San Francisco youth find a place to call home.”
Twilio has committed more than $1 million to homelessness initiatives in San Francisco, which will be distributed among Rising Up, Fast Forward Accelerator and Code Tenderloin. These funds represent a new focus on homelessness for Twilio.org, Twilio’s social impact arm, which has contributed more than $3 million over the past year to nonprofits and social enterprises that are accelerating impact through innovative communications.
“As a company headquartered in San Francisco, we believe we have a responsibility to improve the communities that we serve,” expressed Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson. “By partnering with Airbnb on this important issue, we hope to inspire other companies and organizations to come forward and help us find solutions and implement programs that will meet the needs of San Francisco’s homeless population. We are all in this together.”
“This commitment from Airbnb and Twilio is catalytic and inspiring,” said Larkin Street Executive Director Sherilyn Adams. “Investing in young people through Rising Up will not only save lives and change their trajectory, it will also ultimately reduce chronic homelessness in San Francisco.”
“The Rising Up Campaign is a critical part of San Francisco’s plan to reduce youth homelessness 50% in the next four years and we are deeply appreciative of the private sector’s contributions to these and other efforts to address homelessness,” said Jeff Kositsky, Director of San Francisco’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing.
