Women experience homelessness differently. They are more likely to experience violence, sexual exploitation, trafficking, and the impossible choice between sleeping unsheltered or staying in unsafe situations. Despite more than 3,000 women experiencing homelessness in San Francisco, gender-specific housing and services have steadily declined. In the last decade alone, seven organizations and programs serving women have either closed or transitioned to coed services, not because the need disappeared, but because the investment in women did.

Recognizing this gap, San Francisco SafeHouse was founded in 1998 by Rev. Glenda Hope and Sister Rosina Conrotto, along with the Sisters of the Presentation, to provide safe housing and supportive services for women surviving sexual exploitation, trafficking, and homelessness.

Since our founding almost 30 years ago, SafeHouse has grown alongside the needs of the community. What began as a single transitional home serving 10 women each year has evolved into a comprehensive continuum of housing, supportive services, and advocacy that now serves more than 200 women and their children annually. Since opening our doors, SafeHouse has provided more than 267,000 nights of safety and supported over 1,250 women on their journeys toward healing, housing stability, and independence.

Guided by a Housing First philosophy and trauma-informed, survivor-centered care, our services help women, and often their children, heal, achieve long-term housing stability, and create lasting economic opportunity for themselves and their families.

We believe every woman deserves more than a place to sleep. She deserves safety, dignity, healing, and the opportunity to build the life she chooses for herself and her loved ones. We envision a San Francisco where every woman has a safe place to call home and the support she needs to thrive. Until that vision becomes reality, our work continues.