Coalition on Homelessness
14
4
"Up" is the number of experts who agree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in the
field. "Down" is the number of experts who disagree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in field.
Headquarters Location: San Francisco, CA
Founded: 1987
Mission: The Coalition on Homelessness, San Francisco (COH) initiates program and policy changes that result in the creation of exits from poverty. The COH unites homeless people and service providers with concerned community members in outreach, advocacy, and community organizing activities to ensure that low-income communities are in a leadership position in the work to promote social justice in San Francisco.
Tags:
bay area, homelessness, direct services, advocacy, economic justice, peer support, education, community organizing, outreach, leadership development
Summary
Stories
Expert Reviews
Leadership
From the Nonprofit
Leadership
Jennifer Friedenbach.
Originally from Redwood City, Jennifer has worked about 18 years on homeless and poverty issues, including welfare rights, housing, homeless prevention, healthcare, disability, and human and civil rights. For five years, Jennifer worked at San Mateo County’s Hunger and Homeless Action Coalition moving from administrative assistant to Director. She started work in San Francisco 13 years ago with the Coalition.…
See full bio.
Financial Data
Overhead Ratio:
n/a
Total Revenue:
$283,272
From the Nonprofit
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Contact Info
Address:
466 Turk St
San Francisco, CA 94102, USA
Story:
The Coalition on Homelessness has been around since 1987, but do you know what this organization does?
The Coalition on Homelessness was formed in 1987 to foster the active participation of homeless and low-income San Francisco residents and front-line staff in the struggle for economic and social justice. Through an integrated approach that combines outreach, peer support, leadership development, public education, advocacy, and community organizing, the COH works to defend homeless and low-income people from attacks on their rights and their persons, while advocating for permanent solutions to homelessness that take into account not only poverty's devastating effects, but also its root causes.
(Learn more about them at: http://www.cohsf.org/en/aboutCoh.php)
Expert Reviews of Coalition on Homelessness
Evidence of Impact Summary:
The Coalition on Homelessness runs the second oldest extant street newspaper in the United States, and has the largest circulation of a street newspaper with 32,000 papers distributed monthly. The Street Sheet focuses on the problems of homeless people in the city, and on issues of poverty and housing.Organization Strengths Summary:
Bay Area Homelessness experts believe that the Coalition on Homelessness is the strongest advocacy organization for the homeless population in San Francisco. They are persistent, fearless, and accurately represent the perspective of the homeless population.See expert comments.
Areas for Improvement Summary:
At the same time, in order to continue to be successful, the Coalition on Homelessness needs to raise more money, refocus on outreach in homeless communities, and form partnerships with other service providers.See expert comments.
Expert Comments: Organization Strengths
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It has created several outstanding organizations and stayed true to its mission. | ||
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They are fearless in their organizing which has helped thousands of families and individuals without ANY government or mainstream foundation support. | ||
The Right Approach |
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It's one of the very few organizations that focuses on the problem of homelessness as perceived by homeless people, rather than as perceived by the business community or government bureaucrats. | ||
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They involve those impacted in change efforts and they are working towards a systems change. | ||
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They are outstanding because they are really there for people in a struggle for land. | ||
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Their persistence and willingness to speak the truth to entrenched power is great. | ||
Great Advocates |
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The COH is the only real advocacy organization that knows what is going on at a detailed level with the budget processes in the San Francisco city government. Every year for the past 15 years, the COH worked in coalition with service providers to save services from being cut. Generally, the cuts are aimed at programs for poor and homeless people. Were it not for the COH, and in particular, their Executive Director, Jennifer Fridenbach, San Francisco would have lost at least 75% of its services for homeless people this year. | ||
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They advocate well- they push the envelope. | ||
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They are a strong advocacy voice for the underserved. | ||
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They are consistent advocates. | ||
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They do excellent advocacy work. | ||
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They are outstanding because they involve those impacted and allow them to help direct the organizational agenda, and because they work to change policy. | ||
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Through its 20 + years of existence and the consistent involvement of homeless people, it provides accurate information and analysis of the issues on a local, regional, and national level. Because the SF Coalition doesn’t take government funding, it is free to tell the truth about the failed policies; the harsh, costly, and ineffective laws created to make homeless people invisible by jailing them; and the basic state of injustice and inequality still pervasive in this country. | ||
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They make policy changes. | ||
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It keeps the homeless from being taken advantage of by powerful political forces. | ||
Expert Comments: Areas for Improvement
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Foundation Professionals (F)
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Researchers and Faculty (R)
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Nonprofit Senior Staff (N)
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Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
Collaborate More |
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F
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This is an advocacy - not service - organization that has represented a small segment of the homeless population and often been at odds with the service providers - it should work collaboratively and less antagonistically. | ||
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They should become more savvy about affordable housing systems. | ||
Refine Strategy |
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It needs to return to its roots and refocus on outreach in homeless communities. It still does more of this than anyone else, but that outreach has dropped off considerably as compared to five years ago. | ||
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They should be more pragmatic. | ||
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They should be less strident and more balanced sometimes. | ||
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They should build stronger infrastructure and develop more as an organization. | ||
More Funding |
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This top performing non-profit cannot do anything without more funding. I believe that other non-profits should kick down a yearly contribution to the COH, as it quite literally saved their lives. | ||
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They should cultivate individual donors with better relationship building. | ||
Leadership
Jennifer Friedenbach
Executive Director
Executive Director
From the Nonprofit
The nonprofit has not added any comments yet. If you are a representative of this nonprofit and would like to leave a comment, please email us at
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