Bay Area

Affordable Housing for Homeless Seniors Experiencing Coming to the Mission District

City leaders, developers and community partners celebrate the groundbreaking of a new senior affordable living facility in the Mission District of San Francisco.

Published

2 years ago

August 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Mayor London Breed speaks at the groundbreaking celebration for a new senior affordable housing complex in the Mission District.

By Magaly Muñoz

San Francisco city officials, developers and community members came together Tuesday morning to celebrate the groundbreaking of a new 100% affordable housing complex for seniors who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

The development is located at 1633 Valencia, on the border of the Mission District and Bernal Heights. The five-story complex will house 145 single-person studio apartments for seniors 55 years old and above who earn 50% of the area median income.

Mayor London Breed announced that this was the first project to be funded through the Bay Area Housing Innovation Fund, which offers “private gap financing to affordable housing developments that can meet aggressive cost and time goals set about 40% lower than the average Bay Area project,” according to Destination: Home, a partner in the project.

Included in the partnership are Apple, Sobrato Philanthropies, and the San Francisco Housing Accelerator Fund, who committed $50 million in support for four other affordable housing projects across the Bay Area.

The Innovation Fund is intended to remove obstacles that developers face when pitching affordable housing units.

According to the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, it costs over $730,000 to build a singular housing unit in San Francisco, the highest in all the region.

But Rebeca Foster, CEO of the Accelerator Fund, said while most affordable housing takes years, sometimes over five years, to complete and nearly $1 million per unit, the 1633 Valencia project will take under three years and cost only $550,000 per unit.

Future projects with larger family unit sizes will cost under $700,000.

Projects looking to get assistance from the fund must meet certain criteria. They must be reserved for vulnerable residents making below the area median income; stay on track to meet cost and time goals, similar to the Valencia development; and developers must show they have secured local public support for the project. Potential projects also have to be located in Santa Clara, San Mateo, San Francisco, Alameda, or Santa Cruz counties.

“The complexity of our affordable housing system creates noise and static, but here, our top priority is loud and clear: Deliver more homes where people can thrive urgently. Being crystal clear on this urgency is key to solving our housing and homelessness crisis,” Foster said at the groundbreaking event.

Construction will take 18 months and will be completed by December 2025. Residents will begin to move in starting May 2026.

Seniors from or with ties to the Mission will be given priority when reviewing applications. Selection will be made through a coordinated entry program from Mission Action, an advocacy group helping adults find housing.

The complex will also offer supportive and case management services for residents who need them.

The apartments are only a 10-minute walk to the 24th Street Mission BART station and are accessible to multiple MUNI bus lines. Several local businesses are scattered across the area as well.

“When we build more housing, this is what makes the difference. Building more homes not just for those who are struggling with homelessness, and mental illness, and substance use disorder, but providing wraparound services to ensure that they stay housed and stay on the right track, that is what we do in San Francisco,” Breed said.

This project is part of Breed’s “Housing for All” initiative, which aims to build 82,000 housing units over the next several years.

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Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

Published

1 week ago

March 1, 2026

Oakland Post

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Chase Oakland Community Center Hosts Alley-Oop Accelerator Building Community and Opportunity for Bay Area Entrepreneurs

Over the past three years, the Alley-Oop Accelerator has helped more than 20 Bay Area businesses grow, connect, and gain meaningful exposure. The program combines hands-on training, mentorship, and community-building to help participants navigate the legal, financial, and marketing challenges of small business ownership.

Published

2 weeks ago

February 21, 2026

Oakland Post

Bay Area entrepreneurs attend the Alley-Oop Accelerator, a small business incubation program at Chase Oakland Community Center. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

The Golden State Warriors and Chase bank hosted the third annual Alley-Oop Accelerator this month, an empowering eight-week program designed to help Bay Area entrepreneurs bring their visions for business to life.

The initiative kicked off on Feb. 12 at Chase’s Oakland Community Center on Broadway Street, welcoming 15 small business owners who joined a growing network of local innovators working to strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

At its core, the accelerator is designed to create an ecosystem of collaboration, where local entrepreneurs can learn from one another while accessing the resources of a global financial institution.

“This is our third year in a row working with the Golden State Warriors on the Alley-Oop Accelerator,” said Jaime Garcia, executive director of Chase’s Coaching for Impact team for the West Division. “We’ve already had 20-plus businesses graduate from the program, and we have 15 enrolled this year. The biggest thing about the program is really the community that’s built amongst the business owners — plus the exposure they’re able to get through Chase and the Golden State Warriors.”

According to Garcia, several graduates have gone on to receive vendor contracts with the Warriors and have gained broader recognition through collaborations with JPMorgan Chase.

“A lot of what Chase is trying to do,” Garcia added, “is bring businesses together because what they’ve asked for is an ecosystem, a network where they can connect, grow, and thrive organically.”

This year’s Alley-Oop Accelerator reflects that vision through its comprehensive curriculum and emphasis on practical learning. Participants explore the full spectrum of business essentials including financial management, marketing strategy, and legal compliance, while also preparing for real-world experiences such as pop-up market events.

Each entrepreneur benefits from one-on-one mentoring sessions through Chase’s Coaching for Impact program, which provides complimentary, personalized business consulting.

Garcia described the impact this hands-on approach has had on local small business owners. He recalled one candlemaker, who, after participating in the program, was invited to provide candles as gifts at Chase events.

“We were able to help give that business exposure,” he explained. “But then our team also worked with them on how to access capital to buy inventory and manage operations once those orders started coming in. It’s about preparation. When a hiccup happens, are you ready to handle it?”

The Coaching for Impact initiative, which launched in 2020 in just four cities, has since expanded to 46 nationwide.

“Every business is different,” Garcia said. “That’s why personal coaching matters so much. It’s life-changing.”

Participants in the 2026 program will each receive a $2,500 stipend, funding that Garcia said can make an outsized difference. “It’s amazing what some people can do with just $2,500,” he noted. “It sounds small, but it goes a long way when you have a plan for how to use it.”

For Chase and the Warriors, the Alley-Oop Accelerator represents more than an educational initiative, it’s a pathway to empowerment and economic inclusion. The program continues to foster lasting relationships among the entrepreneurs who, as Garcia put it, “build each other up” through shared growth and opportunity.

“Starting a business is never easy, but with the right support, it becomes possible, and even exhilarating,” said Oscar Lopez, the senior business consultant for Chase in Oakland.