The Mission of Thriving in Place is to strengthen, sustain and advocate for the work of the San Francisco In-Home Supportive Services Public Authority and support Bay Area-wide non-direct services programming, ensuring low-income older adults and people with disabilities are able to remain and thrive at home and in their communities.
How Thriving in Place Helps…
Thriving in Place is partnering with community members and organizations on activities that advance our mission of making San Francisco a better place for older adults and people with disabilities. Explore our current projects:
Results of Empowered San Francisco Tech Needs Assessment…$50 Puts Essential Tips for Thriving at Home, a how-to guide, in the hands of 15 Consumers.
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20% Of The City's 
50% Are Low-Income
And
30% Are Disabled
4% Have a Disability
69% Are Also Low-Income
30% of both seniors and people with disabilities live alone and, without support, are in danger of becoming homebound or institutionalized.
Thriving in Place raises funds and awareness to help the 20% of San Francisco's low-income ageing and people with disabilities who don't have family or friends to care for them. Through our partner, the San Francisco Public Authority, we help those in need choose care providers who assist them with a range of activities like getting to the doctor's office; showering and dressing; getting into a motorized wheelchair; and light cooking and housework.
Getting help with these simple, essential daily activities means that our recipients can continue to thrive at home and actively participate in their communities instead of being isolated or moved to an institution, and they are happier and healthier, which means less repeated hospital visits, which benefits our recipients and the San Francisco community at large. We have our compassionate, committed care providers to thank for this.
By giving seniors and people with disabilities the opportunity to independently manage their own in-home care, they retain their dignity, experience better well-being and stay connected in their neighborhoods. The Public Authority also provides training and other resources for both care providers and recipients.
A Registry of independent care providers for our recipients to choose from for on-going, regularly scheduled in-home support.
An On-Call program for recipients in need of urgent support or transitional support from a care facility.
Access to home care training for independent care providers through our partners at Homebridge.
A mentoring program to help recipients learn to better communicate and work with their independent care providers.
Collective bargaining and full health and dental benefits for more than 17,000 independent care providers city-wide.
Collaborative state-wide advocacy in support of care providers and recipient rights.
| 51% Women |
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| 49% Men |
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| 64% People Over 65 |
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| 42% People with Disabilities All Ages |
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| 29% Disabled and Over 65 |
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To learn more about the Public Authority and its programs, please visit sfihsspa.org.
Without necessary support, low-income seniors and disabled people are among the City's most vulnerable. It's likely that you know someone who could benefit or who is benefitting from services like this right now, and the need is growing.
This is where you come in: Your support will guarantee that seniors and disabled people can continue to live independently in their own homes, getting the support they need to remain vibrant members of the San Francisco community. Donate now.
Every month 60 new people ask for our help finding care providers, and every month we train new care providers to keep up. Recipient needs are increasing and diversifying. We need to expand the size and scope of our programming, adding more and varied trainings for care providers and more resources and levels of care for our recipients. Though the City agrees this is essential, it cannot fund it.
The "Senior Tsunami" is coming. By 2030, 26% of San Franciscans will be seniors – that's about 100,000 more seniors. It is the fastest growing population in the City, the group with the highest rate of poverty, and with age, rates of disability increase. Boomers are crossing the need threshold every day; this is having a big impact on the demographics and workings of the City. We are acting NOW to address this mounting need.
Our partner, The Public Authority, is limited in its ability to scale and implement innovative new programming because the government funding it receives is restricted to a narrow set of required services, and it is not permitted to raise funds from private sources. Right now, we cannot be sure that government funding will increase with need, and, even if it does, that it will be stable and sustainable. And, we know there are essential programs and services that government funding cannot ever support.
This is where Thriving in Place comes in. Think of Thriving in Place as the "friend of" the Public Authority, just like the Friends of the Public Library. Simply put, TiP raises funds from individuals, foundations and corporations that the Public Authority can't for scaling and programing that government funding can't support, but private funding can. We are also beating the drum loud and clear about the vital work of the Public Authority, and the thousands of aging and disabled people we help every year.
In the coming year, Thriving in Place is pleased to be able to fund the following programs and initiatives that the Public Authority would not otherwise be able to produce.
Essential Tips for Thriving at Home: For many, hiring and working with a care provider is their first experience with employing anyone. We publish and distribute a how-to handbook to 22,000 recipients, and provide outreach and training to recipients, social workers and community centers. The Essential Tips cover choosing, hiring and establishing a relationship with care providers, and how to be safe and healthy in your home, ensuring a pleasant and beneficial experience for recipients and care providers alike.
Home Essentials Kits: When recipients and care providers become a part of the Public Authority, we provide starter Home Essentials Kits stocked with practical home, health and personal care items. This guarantees that Consumers and Providers have the tools they need for productive and safe in-home support.
75% of our care providers are low-English speakers and 85% of our recipients are English-only speakers. With job-specific ESL training, care providers will be better able to communicate with and meet the needs of our seniors and disabled recipients, and our recipients will have more choice in hiring. Additionally, with new English skills, care providers can expect to work and earn more and will have a pathway to future opportunity.
IP Plus is for aging and disabled people who want to maintain their independence and manage their in-home care on their own, but who, for various reasons, need additional coaching or assistance. In this program a peer mentor helps recipients navigate the process of choosing, hiring and building a relationship with their care providers and gives them the tools they need for managing on their own in the future.
By providing a little extra guidance, the IP Plus program gives the gift of dignity, increasing the number of aging and disabled people who are thriving at home and in their communities, instead of in institutions.
Taking a Stand: The Public Authority and Thriving in Place are one of the City's best kept secrets. We aim to change this by sharing our significant sector knowledge base, speaking out on issues relevant to our recipients and care providers and by establishing ourselves as thought leaders in the field via community engagement, convenings and publications.
Getting the Word Out: To foster engagement and keep our recipients and providers informed, we are expanding our coverage of important issues and doubling down on our communications efforts. 42,000 recipients and care providers will now receive four newsletters a year and will be encouraged to participate online and real-time on moving our initiatives forward.