Every day, they walk the streets of San Francisco, armed not with weapons or badges but with empathy and motivation — a force dedicated to guiding the city in any way they can. 

The San Francisco Community Ambassador Program (CAP) aims to help San Francisco’s most vulnerable community members, including people experiencing homelessness. These workers, who are not affiliated with law enforcement, work with everyone in the six neighborhoods they patrol. CAP Program Manager David McKinley explained that the ambassadors are trained to handle various situations, from adults wanting a safety escort on their way home from work at night to providing unhoused individuals access to shelters. 

“The main things that ambassadors do is patrol neighborhoods and build relationships with people in the community. People in the community mean everyone. If you’re a tourist looking for directions, if you’re a resident passing by, if you’re a store owner, or if you’re lying on the street, our ambassadors will help. So they just engage with everyone and are a very visible non-law enforcement presence in the neighborhood, just asking people what they need,” McKinley said. 

The evolution of a neighborhood ally

First started in 2010 as part of the San Francisco Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs, the CAP was a response to cultural and linguistic tensions, increased violence, and a need for better community safety.

“After issues like violence against Asian Americans, especially seniors, were increasing in prevalence, community members like those in the diverse Bayview District pushed the city for change. They were clear that they did not want more police, yet still wanted a formal response. The city started a volunteer task force to make residents feel safer, which eventually morphed into the program we now have today,” McKinley said. 

At its outset, McKinley explained, the program was intentionally staffed with a diverse set of individuals. The CAP’s starting location, the Bayview District, is a diverse area with a large population of immigrants, which is why they could benefit from a culturally-informed approach. 

McKinley explained that at first, the program was small, and all its employees came from the city’s Jobs Now program, but they have now expanded to have about half of their employees work directly for them. However, the program has still been deemed a “special project” by the city, meaning that ambassadors serve three-year positions and then move up or move on. They may get promoted to a position like assistant team lead or can choose to leave the program. 

McKinley explained that, due to the intensive training needed and the relationships the ambassadors build with the community, there would be a more positive impact on the community if they could have more permanent positions. Not having to restart every three years would allow stronger community rapports to be built, increasing the program’s overall impact. 

There have also been threats to the program’s survival since Mayor London Breed proposed to defund the program in June of 2024 as part of an effort to reduce an $800 million budget deficit. However, this received significant pushback from people like the former District 5 Supervisor, Dean Preston, who explained that the CAP should be one of the last things to be defunded, especially since it only costs $3 million annually. 

For now, the CAP will continue operating as usual, helping improve the conditions of many communities and the lives of the people within them. 

Empowering San Francisco communities: a program overview

The program works in diverse neighborhoods with an emphasis on people who are low-income, homeless, non-English speakers, older citizens, and other disadvantaged groups. As a whole, the program is equipped to deal with citizens of over 20 different languages, including Spanish, Russian, Cantonese, and Vietnamese.

“We operate in a trauma-informed way. So we have ambassadors who are formerly homeless, currently homeless, new arrivals, ex-gang members, have exited incarceration, and who are experiencing poverty. I think the way that we operate with ambassadors is with a lot of love, attention, and care,” McKinley said.

With a community-centered approach, the ambassadors work in violence prevention, crisis intervention, homelessness, and de-escalating conflicts. To be equipped to handle such a wide variety of situations, McKinley explained, ambassadors receive multiple trainings, including violence prevention, homelessness and mental illness sensitivity, implicit bias, cultural diversity, harassment prevention, overdose prevention, CPR, First Aid, NARCAN, harm reduction training, and several others

In addition, the program also offers other services like safety escorts through certain neighborhoods, reporting severe emergencies to law enforcement, reporting issues like safety hazards, monitoring street cleanliness, conducting wellness checks, providing referrals to social services, and educating and informing community members about the city’s programs and services.

The program’s unique approach is backed by research, as shown by a qualitative study from BMC Public Health. The report conducted interviews with San Francisco individuals who were experiencing homelessness and received help from a mobile crisis response team rather than the traditional first responders who are a part of law enforcement. 

Nearly all people surveyed preferred the mobile crisis team approach, which they felt was a more desirable approach to law enforcement while still satisfying their short-term needs. These immediate needs refer to any kind of relief from the demands of being unhoused, including mental health and substance abuse. 

Life as a Community Ambassador

The first step to becoming an ambassador is to go through a six to nine-month training period. During this time, McKinley explained, trainees will work alongside experienced ambassadors to learn about the intricacies of the job and how to best interact with the community. However, most of the ambassadors already have experience with the kinds of communities they serve.

“I’m familiar with what people are going through in the streets; I have empathy and compassion for their struggles. So I let them see my struggle and how I came out of it, and it gives them hope and confidence to get up and do something positive,” Luis Allen* said, a former Community Ambassador. 

Allen works in the Mid Market neighborhood of San Francisco, where he gives information on city services and works with homeless residents and visitors. He believes his and his colleagues’ presence makes neighborhood residents feel safer. 

In addition to providing direct services, the ambassadors also work with other city entities. For example, when alerted to hazards, they report them using San Francisco’s 311 program, which is an app that allows anyone to report virtually any danger or concern in the city. These concerns range from documenting a blocked driveway to graffiti issues. 

“There’s always people littering; there’s always waste and needles on the ground. It’s unsafe for children and adults to be commuting through the streets. So when we see them, we take a picture, dispatch it to 311, and they come later to pick it up,” Allen said. 

On the other end of the spectrum, the ambassadors also help individuals in life-altering ways.

“Our Mission District team once came across a homeless Latino family who really wanted to get into a shelter, but it is much harder to find a shelter for a whole family than it is for an individual. The team ended up putting their own money together to get them a hotel room for two nights. We then went to half a dozen nonprofits and shelters that serve Latino families and contacted our department directors, who were able to get them fast-tracked into housing,” McKinley said. 

While McKinley explained that the program has stressed its presence as a non-law enforcement agency, they are still a program of the city and, therefore, works with law enforcement agencies. For example, some police task forces deal with high-risk neighborhoods, and the CAP will collaborate with them to provide ambassadors to help ease tensions, McKinley said. 

Beyond the work they do for the community, the ambassadors also receive help from the program managers who prioritize personal and professional development. McKinley explained that every ambassador gets two hours of paid time off to pursue anything they might benefit from, including taking a class, going to therapy, attending financial empowerment courses, and others. Additionally, every ambassador receives a free guard card, allowing them to work in security if they choose to leave the program. 

In the future, McKinley hopes that the program will continue running and expanding to serve more San Francisco communities.  

“The stuff we do as community ambassadors makes me feel proud of helping the city, you know, helping it, keeping it clean, and helping the residents. I used to be on the streets and saw the community ambassadors walk the streets, but I never thought I could become one myself. Doing this job makes me feel really good,” said Victoria Wang*, a former Community Ambassador.