According to the City’s most recent Point-in-Time report, youth and young adults accounted for 21% of HSH services in 2024 (the most recent count for which data is available). 1,137 people ages 18 to 24 experienced homelessness in one night, 65% of whom were male. Of all the unhoused single adults receiving services, 65% had substance use or mental health disorders. 52% were “justice-involved,” meaning they had been in jails, youth correctional facilities, or prisons.
On Jan. 29, 2026, GLIDE cut the ribbon on its new Transitional Age Youth (TAY) Health and Wellness Center. Officially opening to the public on Feb. 2, it will operate 24 hours a day, every day of the year, serving homeless people ages 18 to 27. It’s a collaborative effort with San Francisco’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH), the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, BMO, and community partners.
Located at 888 Post St., the Health & Wellness Center is an extension of the Lower Polk TAY Navigation Center at 700 Hyde Street, a homeless shelter for young adults with substance use and mental health disorders. The shelter is operated by 3rd Street Youth Clinic, a partner of the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH).
The Health and Wellness Center will provide a wide array of free, accessible amenities, including bathrooms, showers, laundry facilities, clothing, bike racks, storage lockers, a hygiene and haircut station, and computer workstations. Services include referrals to TAY shelter beds, case management for individualized support, and connections to workforce development programs.
But Cedric Akbar, CEO of Positive Directions Equals Changes, is dubious about the program. GLIDE maintains a dedicated harm reduction program, including providing drug use supplies.
For staffing, approximately five to seven employees and volunteers will be on site. GLIDE safety employees (security guards) will also be present.
The number of people who will take advantage of the services is currently unknown, but they anticipate serving up to 30 people at a time.
Recovery advocate Tom Wolf says he isn’t opposed to stabilization centers, but questions the numbers.
“How many clients will they really serve?” he asks. “Based on data from SoMa RISE, which can serve 20 people, they don’t serve many at all, and at a tremendous cost to the city. How will we measure the efficacy of this program? What are the metrics?”
The plan, though, is for people to drop in independently and be referred to the Center by GLIDE’s outreach teams. When the person enters, they will be checked in and then can use any of the services. If their medical needs can be addressed by the on-site staff, they will receive care; otherwise, they’ll be referred to other services.
Everyone is invited to socialize and relax in the Center, but sleeping is not permitted. If a person dozes off, staff will rouse them and try to secure a place to sleep in the shelter.
Drug use and activity will also be forbidden. According to Shireen McSpadden, executive director of HSH, harm-reduction supplies will not be available on-site. Yet substance use and addiction are predominant reasons for homelessness in San Francisco, and people in altered states will be allowed into the Center.
When asked how referrals to recovery treatment would work, McSpadden said it depends on availability. No one will be turned away, but the staff’s job is to first ensure people are in a safe space.
Emily Cohen, deputy director for communications and legislative affairs for HSH, said the process will begin with immediate case management.
“It starts with a conversation about what they want,” said Cohen. “A snack, lockers to have their stuff put away. And then, ‘how are you, what’s going on.’ As they begin to talk, they may come forward that they have a substance abuse disorder.”
Regarding how long people can stay at the Center, Cohen said there will be no specific time limit. People can come and go as many times as they like.
Concerns about the Center’s potential impact on the surrounding community were raised during the presentation. Cohen said they weren’t related to the site itself, but the neighborhood as a whole.
The Tenderloin, which has the highest concentration of open-air drug markets, fentanyl overdoses, and related crime in the city, begins just a block down on Geary Street, and often overflows to the Lower Nob Hill Area.
McSpadden emphasized that GLIDE safety staff are well-trained and have been doing this for years. San Francisco’s Good Neighbor Policy is a mandatory requirement for homeless providers, intended to minimize their impact on surrounding communities.
Therefore, at least on paper, the new Center must adhere to certain protocols. For example, it must provide a dedicated phone number that is answered 24 hours a day by a person authorized to promptly address complaints or issues. The Center must actively discourage and mitigate excessive noise from participants just outside the premises, as well as loitering and public drug use in the immediate surrounding area.
But Cedric Akbar, CEO of Positive Directions Equals Changes, is dubious about the program. GLIDE maintains a dedicated harm reduction program, including providing drug use supplies.
“This approach prioritizes ideology over outcomes,” says Akbar. “It shifts responsibility away from the city while leaving residents, especially children, exposed to ongoing disorder and harm. This is culpability, not accountability.”
Regarding the healthcare component, McSpadden says SFDPH will provide triage-based services for issues such as wounds and the flu. Once a person is stabilized, they may be connected to a primary care provider.
“We will make sure you’re on Medi-Cal and connected to care,” she said. “The goal is to make sure people get primary care treatment as preventative care so they don’t go to the hospital for everything.”
Although a nurse will be at the Center on certain days, a trained healthcare employee will be available at all times.
Also at the presentation was Martell Smith, a 21-year-old who has been in San Francisco for only nine months. Originally from Merced, Smith said he came to the city on his own, with no place to live, after hearing about available resources and being attracted to the diversity. “It makes me feel less alone,” he said.
Smith had just received the keys to his own city-subsidized apartment and now has a job at Goodwill Industries. Eventually, he wants to go into public service, possibly as a politician.
Across the street from the TAY Health & Wellness Center is the UN Market, a bodega selling everything from chips and candy to alcoholic beverages. The cashier admitted to being a little wary about the upcoming influx of this population, but then shrugged, saying, “It will probably bring in business.”