Share

San Francisco billionaire gives $30M to study homelessness

Share

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A San Francisco billionaire is donating $30 million to the University of California, San Francisco, to research root causes of homelessness and potential solutions.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, a city native, has embraced homelessness as a philanthropic cause, pumping millions into a 2018 city measure to tax wealthy companies to pay for homeless services.

The five-year initiative funded by Benioff and his wife, Lynne, will conduct academic research, provide testimony and fact sheets, and train people who have been homeless as expert speakers. The UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative will be part of the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations, led by Dr. Margot Kushel.

The $30 million contribution is the largest-ever private donation to fund homelessness research, according to Salesforce.

“The world needs a North Star for truth on homelessness,” Benioff said in a statement. The initiative “will be that North Star, providing the latest research, data and evidence-based solutions to ensure we’re investing in programs that will help solve the homelessness crisis.”

Trending:
Fani Willis Throws a Tantrum to Jim Jordan as Contempt Deadline Arrives

Some San Francisco residents are frustrated with technology companies like Salesforce, a cloud-based software business, saying they contribute to inequality with high-paying jobs that drive up housing prices.

More than 4,000 people sleep on the streets every night in the city, where the median price of a two-bedroom home is $1.3 million. A family of four earning $117,400 a year is considered low income in San Francisco.

Benioff approached the university because he wants officials spending tax money to make decisions with the best data available, Kushel said. The plan is for researchers analyze the data and provide neutral, trusted analysis.

The initiative will have the ability to help a city, for example, decide whether and how to implement an alcohol management program, study the results of that program and then broadly share the information.

“We want to be a rapid response team to really help the public,” Kushel said. “This is democratizing data; this is meant to get the data out there.”

The Western Journal has not reviewed this Associated Press story prior to publication. Therefore, it may contain editorial bias or may in some other way not meet our normal editorial standards. It is provided to our readers as a service from The Western Journal.

Truth and Accuracy

Submit a Correction →



We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

Tags:
Share
The Associated Press is an independent, not-for-profit news cooperative headquartered in New York City. Their teams in over 100 countries tell the world’s stories, from breaking news to investigative reporting. They provide content and services to help engage audiences worldwide, working with companies of all types, from broadcasters to brands. Photo credit: @AP on Twitter
The Associated Press was the first private sector organization in the U.S. to operate on a national scale. Over the past 170 years, they have been first to inform the world of many of history's most important moments, from the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the bombing of Pearl Harbor to the fall of the Shah of Iran and the death of Pope John Paul.

Today, they operate in 263 locations in more than 100 countries relaying breaking news, covering war and conflict and producing enterprise reports that tell the world's stories.
Location
New York City




Conversation