San Francisco Public Press (https://www.sfpublicpress.org/author/hannah-kaplan/)
Hannah Kaplan graduated from San Francisco State University, class of 2017, where she studied journalism with an emphasis in European studies. She has reported on the environment, human trafficking, foreign policy and issues of national and cultural identity. She is based in New York.
The story of Box City reflects the city’s shifting approach to homeless encampments and the impact on their residents. Many believed the navigation centers — touted as a model of moving people from “street to home” — would lead to long-term housing. But they were left demoralized and jaded about the government’s ability to help them.
Two years after the city launched its navigation centers, fewer than a quarter of the nearly 1,200 people who have passed through have been placed in verified long-term housing, and more are returning to the streets, an analysis of city records shows. The most common outcome is a one-way bus ticket to another city.