Tipping Point, an anti-poverty nonprofit organization he created 20 years ago, has committed to giving $11 million for a pilot program aimed at preventing family homelessness. If the program is successful, it will be expanded across the city’s homeless services system.

The money will go toward direct help for 1,500 “vulnerable” families in the area and cover the operational costs for five nonprofit service providers.

The goal of the pilot program is to “create a more seamless experience” for families who need help with housing. It will also assist them with getting jobs as well as access to childcare and legal aid if they need it. The program begins next month and runs through June of 2026. 

The program will focus on families that are in serious danger of losing their housing but not those who are currently homeless. 

“By going further upstream and preventing homelessness in the first place,” said Sam Cobbs, the CEO of Tipping Point Community, who added that Lurie did not personally donate any money. “We think that we can do better by our city and better by these families.”

Cobbs added that homelessness among families is the fastest-growing segment of the homeless population in the city. According to the 2024 point-in-time count, San Francisco had 405 families made up of 1,103 people experiencing homelessness on a given night in the city. That’s nearly double what it saw in 2022, when only 205 families, made up of 605 members total, were homeless.  

Cobbs also noted the effect homelessness has on children, saying they are more likely to have problems in school and with their mental health. 

Homeless children are “8-9 times more likely to repeat a grade and 4 times more likely to drop out of school than their housed peers,” more than 40% “experience developmental delays,” three times as many have “emotional and behavioral problems,” and homeless children have “twice the rate of asthma, infections, and other chronic illnesses,” Tipping Point said in a press release. 

The nonprofit’s donation for the pilot program is consistent with the new mayor’s promises to expand public partnerships to help the city combat homelessness. 

Lurie stepped down as Tipping Point CEO in 2019 and left its board in 2023. 

Lurie ousted previous San Francisco Mayor London Breed in November. There had been questions about whether Lurie, a multimillionaire with no experience in government, could lead the California city. 

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During the election, Lurie spent $9.5 million of his own money on his campaign. His mother, billionaire Mimi Haas, spent $1 million, and his wealthy friends in the tech industry also opened their wallets.