Swords to Plowshares

Veterans Community Center – Services to Increase San Francisco Veterans’ Health and Food Insecurity

Service Area: San Francisco Bay Area

Goal: Improve the health and wellbeing of 200 veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness by ensuring that they have access to food, shelter, and medical care

The San Francisco Bay Area is home to more than 225,000 veterans. Swords to Plowshares is a community-based nonprofit that has provided supportive services to Bay Area veterans for 48 years, regardless of their service era or discharge status. The majority of the veterans Swords to Plowshares serves are experiencing or at risk of homelessness, extremely low-income, older than 55, and/or have a disability. San Francisco veterans are at particularly high risk for food insecurity, PTSD, depression, and suicide, with rates even higher among those with other-than-honorable discharges. Swords to Plowshares’ Drop-in Center provides access to a comprehensive continuum of care for veterans seeking to overcome homelessness and poverty and build their health and long-term independence. With the launch of their new Veterans Community Center (VCC), they are expanding their wraparound care to improve mental health and community for particularly vulnerable veterans, including unhoused and senior veterans. This BWF investment will fill gaps in Swords to Plowshares’ public funding by providing emergency hotel stays for unhoused veterans, supplying meals and snacks for veterans receiving services at the VCC, and supporting a Licensed Psychiatric Technician to address medical needs and help veterans access and engage in care. Overall, this investment will improve the health and wellbeing of 200 veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness by ensuring that they have access to food, shelter, and medical care.