Billionaire gives US$30 million to study homelessness

A San Francisco billionaire is donating US$30 million to the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), to research root causes of homelessness and potential solutions, reports Associated Press.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, a city native, has embraced homelessness as a philanthropic cause, pumping millions into a 2018 city measure to tax wealthy companies to pay for homeless services. The five-year initiative funded by Benioff will conduct academic research, provide testimony and fact sheets, and train people who have been homeless as expert speakers. The UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative will be part of the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations, led by Dr Margot Kushel.

Some San Francisco residents are frustrated with technology companies like Salesforce, a cloud-based software business, saying they contribute to inequality with high-paying jobs that drive up housing prices. More than 4,000 people sleep on the streets every night in the city, where the median price of a two-bedroom home is US$1.3 million. A family of four earning US$117,400 a year is considered low income in San Francisco.
Full report on The Washington Post site