Photo: Marc Benioff
Salesforce founder Marc Benioff and his wife Lynne are donating $30 million to UC San Francisco (UCSF) to launch the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative — which is a new center in San Francisco that will conduct groundbreaking research on the root causes of homelessness and identify evidence-based solutions for preventing and ending homelessness.
The UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative will be housed within the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations research center. And UCSF professor of medicine and director of the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations (CVP) Margot Kushel will be heading up the initiative.
“There is no medicine as powerful as housing,” said Kushel in a statement. “We know a lot about how to end homelessness, but that knowledge doesn’t always reach policy makers, or is not properly targeted.”
Benioff’s pledge is going to be paid out over five years and it will create resources for policymakers and community leaders for addressing homelessness. Through the initiative, UCSF will conduct new research along with curating and organizing research already available on homelessness in a searchable digital library. And the organization will hold regular meetings between academic experts and people who have experienced homelessness.
“The world needs a North Star for truth on homelessness,” added Marc Benioff. “The UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing 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.”
The Benioffs have a net worth of $6.7 billion. And they have already donated $200 million to UCSF. The first $100 million was pledged in 2010 and it went towards UCSF Children’s Hospital — which is a 289-bed hospital. And the second $100 million pledge was given in 2014 to UCSF and Oakland Children’s Hospital. Both of these hospitals are now known as Benioff Children’s Hospitals.
Marc Benioff has been a vocal advocate of increasing taxes on San Francisco’s largest tech companies including Salesforce, known as Proposition C (Prop C). Benioff has conducted a number of interviews and has been using his Twitter account to discuss his support of Prop C. But Benioff has been facing opposition from Jack Dorsey (Twitter and Square co-founder), Mark Pincus (Zynga co-founder), and Michael Moritz (Sequoia Capital partner)
Prop C ended up passing with 61% of the vote, but it did not achieve the two-thirds majority that would have prevented litigation against it. As a result, the implementation of the new tax has been delayed.
According to the 2017 annual Homelessness Point-in-Time report, about 7,500 people are homeless in San Francisco. And 58% of them are unsheltered. Due to increases in housing costs and income inequality, many people including families and older adults have entered homelessness for the first time.
“We have designed this initiative to have real-world impact, first in San Francisco, then statewide and, ultimately we hope, on a national scale. We intend to be a resource for everyone who has a genuine interest in solving homelessness, whether they are elected officials, policymakers, advocates, concerned citizens or people who have experienced homelessness themselves,” explained Joshua Bamberger, MD, MPH — Director, Health and Housing Initiatives at the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California (NPH).
In association with the new gift to UCSF, the Benioffs have now pledged $66 million to prevent and end homelessness in San Francisco. Recently, they pledged $6.1 million to renovate the Bristol Hotel with 58 units of housing in San Francisco. And the Benioffs also donated $11.5 million to Hamilton Families’ Heading Home Campaign, co-founded the Star Community Home, and supported other related organizations like Raphael House, Larkin Street Youth Services and Catholic Charities. Plus they contributed $2 million to the “Yes on C” campaign for passing Proposition C in San Francisco.
“Homelessness isn’t just a Bay Area issue – it touches every community in California. Our entire state and nation have much to gain from this work. Marc and Lynne have been leaders in this space, and this generous investment will help fuel the search for solutions and further develop best practices to help those who are homeless improve their lives,” noted California Governor Gavin Newsom.
The Benioffs also donated $50 million to launch the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals Preterm Birth Initiative in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. And they also recently allocated $15 million to UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland for addressing the acute shortage of mental health services for children and adolescents in Oakland and the East Bay.
“Marc and Lynne Benioff’s empathy and commitment to our most vulnerable residents should serve as inspiration for everyone working to end homelessness. Their relentless effort and passion has already uplifted countless lives, and this latest investment will help all of us understand the root causes that lead to homelessness as well as potential solutions. On behalf of a community who will greatly benefit from Marc and Lynne’s generous gift, Oakland looks forward to partnering with the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative,” Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf commented.
