Can London Breed clear up San Francisco’s transgender homeless drawback?

San Francisco loves an ambitious goal. In 2003, the city set the objective to produce zero waste by 2020. In 2014, it vowed to reach zero traffic-related fatalities by 2024. And in 2015, it pledged to get to zero HIV infections and preventable deaths by 2020.

None of those things happened.

Arbitrary time limits have been abandoned (zero waste), quietly erased from the website (vision zero) or extended (HIV infections and deaths).

And so it’s hard not to see the new plan Mayor London Breed announced this week to house every transgender person experiencing homelessness by 2027 with skepticism. She announced the plan after a dramatic week, where several queer community groups came out against her now reversed decision not to march in the Pride Parade.

It’s not easy to tackle intractable, systemic problems on a tight deadline. But Breed’s timing further begged the question: Can we really end homelessness in the transgender community in five short years? Or was her promise empty politicking in the wake of a queer backlash?

All signs pointed to politicking. And on Twitter, her plan was attacked accordingly. But the more I dug into it, the more legitimate I found the proposal to be. Part of that is because the plan came from the community it’s designed to serve; it was presented by the city’s Trans Advisory Committee. The proposal includes a long-term rental assistance program, and $6.5 million spread over two years for behavioral health, nonprofit support and to acquire a building to house LGBTQ youth.

Trans people in San Francisco are 18 times more likely to experience homelessness than the general population, according to Our Trans Home SF, but they’re underserved; many organizations are not well-versed in pronouns, gender-affirming care, name changes, or in managing trauma. As a result, many homeless trans people don’t engage with traditional services, falling through the cracks in an already difficult-to-navigate system. Breed’s proposed funding could allow small nonprofit organizations that hire from the community to increase their staffing and training to help clients navigate the city’s complicated housing process.

Joaquin Remora is the director of Our Trans Home SF, the city’s first housing program for trans and gender nonconforming people. In March, he helped open the city’s first navigation center specifically to serve trans and gender nonconforming people. Breed’s proposal would provide residents of both with additional rental subsidies to help them move into permanent housing, where they pay only a portion of their income toward rent.

“The goal of navigation centers and transitional housing programs is to prepare someone, so that by the time they go out and live on their own, they’re going to succeed,” Remora said. But finding homes for people ready to leave these temporary facilities has been tricky. The 150 subsidized housing proposed in the budget would be a big help.

Nonetheless, the framing of Breed’s plan — to “solve” homelessness in the trans community — irked some people. Concerns that it won’t hold up legally appear to be unfounded; trans people experience homelessness at a higher rate, justifying these efforts. But if homelessness in one group is solvable, isn’t it for everyone? And why do they get priority over homeless moms or seniors?

Shahada Hull, who is not transgender, but is homeless and trying to find housing, told me she’s concerned that the city is prioritizing one population for housing over another. “It’s not fair, because we’re all standing in line,” she said, noting that it seems, “like the city’s just focusing on just them.”

Remora said he encounters this perspective a fair amount in his work and always reminds people of the intersectionality of identities. “Trans people can be moms and elders,” he noted, adding that there have always been resources available for other populations. This is the first time, however, that a significant investment is being made to meet the needs of trans people.

The city estimates that at any given time, there are approximately 400 trans and gender nonconforming residents experiencing homelessness — few enough that the problem may be possible to tackle.

For this plan to work, it’s going to have to evolve and expand based on need — and become sustainable past the city’s 2027 goal. That means securing long-term funding to house people in perpetuity. But something as easily overlooked as paying staff well also has to be part of the solution. Many of the city’s social service organizations hire people with similar lived experiences of those they’ll be working with. But caring for one’s personal trauma, while helping a client work through theirs, can be an exhaustive task.

“Making jobs sustainable is the No. 1 most-important thing,” Remora said, referencing the city’s high turnover rate of case workers. He’s seen how staff who are well-compensated and trained have stronger, longer-lasting relationships with clients — which builds trust between providers and those in need, helping people to access the services they need to move indoors.

If approved by the Board of Supervisors, Breed’s budget proposal will provide a much-needed influx of funds to support the trans community. And while ending trans homelessness may seem ambitious, particularly in the wake of San Francisco’s struggles to hit other goals, many cities across the country have had success in eliminating homelessness among certain populations. New Orleans, Houston and Philadelphia, for example, all claim to have ended homelessness among their veteran populations by expanding services, providing rental assistance and responding quickly if someone loses their home.

There are countless examples of San Francisco politicians receiving accolades for grand plans that then quietly fizzle out. The timing of Breed’s announcement and her recent conflict with the queer community certainly made this latest effort seem like political grandstanding. But digging deeper, it’s clear there was thoughtful attention paid to tackling a deeply complicated social crisis. With a commitment to permanent investment, we may just be able to end trans homelessness by 2027.

Nuala Bishari is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist and editorial writer. Email: nuala.bishari@sfchronicle.com