San Francisco is dealing with the harsh reality of a homelessness crisis that's gone from bad to worse. In 2017, more than one in 100 homeless Americans lived on the city's streets.
Tired of feeling helpless, Jacob Savage and Neil Shah created an app called Concrn that lets people send an alert whenever they see a person experiencing a mental health crisis, homelessness, or an issue with substance abuse. The app's dispatcher sends a civilian response team trained in empathy to help get that person back on their feet and connect them with relevant support services.
We recently shadowed a Concrn responder on their shift. Here's what it was like.
On any day in San Francisco, you may see a person raving incoherently, shooting up drugs, or tumbling into the streets. You might inch past to avoid them or offer your pocket change.
If a bystander takes action, they might call the police, assuming these trained keepers of the law know how to best handle trauma in the streets. But that's not always the case.
Over a recent nine-year period, 58% of the city's police shootings involved mentally ill people.
Created in 2014, Concrn is a "mobile alternative to 911," according to the app's founders.
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