Public safety program in San Francisco faces uncertain future amid budget crisis

CBS News

13-02-2025

SAN FRANCISCO — Funding for public safety service Urban Alchemy cleared a hurdle Wednesday after being held up by the previous San Francisco Board of Supervisors in December 2024.
The budget and finance committee advanced a $4 million amendment for the group in addition to its $16 million allocation that was approved in the city's annual budget.
"Urban Alchemy has made a positive difference in the areas where we have been able to deploy them," Supervisor Rafael Mandelman told CBS News Bay Area, who co-sponsored the funding amendment. "As our budgets get tighter, we're going to have to take a closer look at all our contracts and make some tough choices, but for now I support keeping the UA work going through the end of this fiscal year.
But as the city faces a $876 million budget deficit, it's unclear how long their support from city leaders will last.
For Louie Hammonds, a practitioner with Urban Alchemy, every positive engagement — whether offering a cigarette or simply saying hello — is a step toward creating a cleaner, safer community.
"Tin foil tells a story. An orange cap tells a story. A needle tells a story. It's a story we don't want told. It's a story of trauma, story of sadness, story of pain," Hammonds said. "How do you show a community you care? By picking it up immediately, by having a conversation."
After serving 21 years of a life sentence, he is now giving back through his work with Urban Alchemy, a nonprofit that employs formerly incarcerated individuals to help mediate street conflicts, clean up drug paraphernalia, and provide outreach to vulnerable populations. They are only armed with Narcan, sometimes cigarettes, and, as Hammonds says, "a whole lot of love."
Rather than relying solely on law enforcement, Hammonds and his colleagues step in to de-escalate volatile situations. He recalls an incident where he and ten other practitioners successfully intervened in an alleged robbery — without police involvement. Something like that happens "at least once a day," he said.
Urban Alchemy reports significant strides in its efforts. New data reported by the group and shared exclusively with CBS News Bay Area, cites 2,547,926 positive engagements in 2024 — more than double the previous year's total. The organization has also disposed of 74,348 needles, reversed 101 overdoses, and engaged in 92,514 de-escalations.
But these services come at a cost. The organization is projected to spend $20 million annually, as $4 million recently approved by the city's budget committee heads to the full board of supervisors for consideration on Feb. 25. This equates to roughly $8 per positive engagement — an expense that comes amid Mayor Daniel Lurie's efforts to address an $876 million budget deficit.
Despite the high price tag, local leaders believe the program is vital. Steve Gibson, executive director of the Mid Market Business Association, which contracts with Urban Alchemy, said the need for intervention remains strong in areas like the Tenderloin, SoMa and Market Street.
"There is still a very high need for that type of intervention on the streets," Gibson said. "Hopefully, Urban Alchemy remains part of the solution."
However, the long-term future of the program is uncertain.
"What we don't know — and it's a little early to say — is how the administration will move forward after this fiscal year," Gibson noted. "What combination of programs they might choose to elevate or create remains to be seen."
For Hammonds, the goal is not just to provide temporary relief but to instill a sense of community ownership. He welcomes a watchful eye from the city to show their worth in numbers and in person.
"We're not easy to love, we're formerly incarcerated, formerly addicted, formerly unhoused. It's probably easier to blame us," he said. "But I'm okay with checking the numbers and saying, 'Hey, let me see what you brought to the table.' And that's what we're doing."