On May 6, Steve Adami, executive director of The Salvation Army’s recovery program, The Way Out, led a neighborhood discussion about a sober living residence planned for the Marina Inn. Along with the San Francisco Department of Public Health’s (DPH) new leader, Daniel Tsai, and Dr. Christy Soran, the trio explained the project’s intention and tried to calm frayed nerves.
The site, at 3110 Octavia Street, has 40 units with 68 beds, and would be home to people who have completed The Salvation Army’s drug addiction recovery program for up to two years.
But as with every new project, swift communication, transparency, and neighborhood involvement are key. This is particularly critical in a tight-knit community that has been burned in the past.
Many Marina residents and business owners are wary about city government-run programs. The network of motels on Lombard Street was used to house homeless people during the Covid-19 pandemic, attracting crime and squalor to one of the most expensive residential areas of San Francisco. Prime restaurant and retail corridors such as Union and Chestnut streets were negatively impacted as drug activity and vagrancy flourished.
The site was chosen because a sober living environment needs to be far from the problems associated with the Tenderloin and South of Market neighborhoods, where the open drug scene is intense.
After most motels returned to business as usual, area residents have remained skeptical about what could come next.
“The outreach for this was very bad,” said Patricia Vaughey, a Marina district neighborhood leader. “On the 23rd of April, they signed the contract, and on the 26th, the notice went out. It was like, ‘we will do this or else.’ They should have come and talked with us. The wording on the announcements was disingenuous. It didn’t say what the program was. Many of us thought people would walk in and out all day.”
Vaughey, who has a long history of working with the community to clear encampments and call out public drug use, says she believes in The Salvation Army, but is disturbed by DPH’s involvement. She contacted Eileen Loughran, the department’s community affairs manager, whose contact information was on the project’s flyer. They made plans to talk with the merchants together, but Loughran did it on her own the day before. That did not sit well with Vaughey, who knows the importance of keeping promises in a cherished district.
On April 29, we reached out to Loughran for clarification about DPH’s involvement, but the next day, their media desk emailed that she is not involved and that they would handle communications. Multiple requests to interview a department employee who had the authority to answer questions from the press went ignored. On May 6, the meeting day, they finally sent names (Genetric Brown, director of communications, and Deirdre Hussey, who oversees the department’s communications team) but provided no contact information for either.
At 6 p.m., the meeting was held at Neon, a coworking and event space on Union Street. It was a house of approximately 75 people, including District 2 Supervisor Stephen Sherrill.
The primary presenters were Adami and Tsai, who covered how the Marina Inn would function.
The Salvation Army’s Way Out program would run the project as a contracted vendor, not city departments. Abstinence is not only encouraged, but required. No illegal substances will be permitted, and random drug testing will occur. If a person is found to be using, they will not be allowed to stay. Furthermore, all residents will be required to be employed, except for disabled people who can accept volunteer positions. The bottom floor of the building will be dedicated to women.
Still, neighbors expressed concerns about what could happen to the surrounding blocks, worried about an uptick in drug dealing and vagrancy. Adami stressed that he and his team would be accountable and take pains to ensure nothing would happen. He gave the group his cell phone number and said he would answer calls.
Karina Velásquez, an immigration attorney, was among the attendees. She has lived at the intersection of Filbert and Octavia streets for over a decade and takes daily walks by the Marina Inn with her dog.
“Since 2020, I’ve seen public safety decline in the Marina after City Hall turned Lombard Street hotels into homeless shelters under the guise of Covid relief,” says Velásquez. “It became a magnet for drug use and dealing in what was once a safe, family-friendly neighborhood.”
Velásquez says she supports recovery programs and drug-free, transitional housing, but felt the meeting was too much like a public relations event.
Jason Pellegrini, a Marina Community Association Board member who was also at the meeting, left with a positive impression. He sees the program as an asset to the area and the city at large.
“Change is always scary, but the people in this program are looking to better their lives,” said Pellegrini. “They have proven by going through treatment that they are committed to recovery. What better place in S.F. than the Marina to allow residents to thrive? Sometimes we need to give people opportunities to succeed. As a neighbor and property owner, I fully support partnering to ensure this program is successful, not only for the participants but also for the larger Marina community.”
Other attendees sought answers, but appeared frustrated with the lack of clarity. One person asked why, of all places in the city, the Marina was selected as a site. Tsai attempted to explain, but was vague at first. When asked to elaborate, he did.
The site was chosen because a sober-living environment needs to be far from the problems associated with the Tenderloin and South of Market neighborhoods, where the open drug scene is intense. The Marina Inn will not be a drug treatment program but a sober-living residence that gives people in recovery and who are practicing abstinence an opportunity to live healthfully, independently, and in a way that benefits society.
Tsai also emphasized that DPH would not be functioning as it did in the past. Today and going forward, the focus is entirely different, with a strong emphasis on real drug addiction recovery. Poorly run programs will no longer be tolerated, and DPH will not hesitate to pull contracts if expectations aren’t met.
Trust, like great credit, takes time and effort to rebuild. The Department of Public Health has a long road regarding credibility repair, but Tsai seems eager to go on this journey.
The Salvation Army, on the other hand, is beginning with a good reputation. Straight-talking Adami has been through drug recovery and stints in prison, then earned a master’s degree in public administration. He became the San Francisco Adult Probation Department reentry division director before heading The Way Out.
And unlike some in city government, Adami’s communication approach is total candor. You ask, he’ll tell. Moreover, he firmly believes that the Marina Inn project will work, and that the community will soon share his faith. When the community says, “Prove it,” Adami responds, “I will.”
