Dan-iel Drakes was just doing her job Thursday, assisting formerly homeless residents at a supportive housing complex in SoMa, when a bullet pierced her left cheek and jaw. The 37-year-old social worker needs reconstructive surgery.
It wasn’t the first time violence broke out at the facility at 833 Bryant St. According to her mother, Drakes previously expressed concerns over violent incidents, including a pit bull attack and people bringing guns into the building.
“That place has been having problems for a long time that she’s been complaining about, but nothing changes,” Denise Price Drakes told The Standard.
Leading up to Thursday’s shooting, Denise feared for her daughter’s safety. Now she’s calling on Dan-iel’s employer, Episcopal Community Services, and nonprofit Mercy Housing, which manages the building, to heighten security measures to protect case workers.
“They need security, guards, metal detectors. They don’t have any of those things,” she said.
She said her daughter regularly works with mentally ill residents who need stronger health interventions than they are getting at Mercy Housing. “The workers can’t make decisions for them. They can’t make them go get some mental healthcare one time a week,” she said.
Dan-iel was one of two people who were shot at the supportive housing facility. The other is a member of the custodial staff whom the nonprofit has declined to identify.
The San Francisco Fire Department told The Standard that three people were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after reports of a shooting at 10:02 a.m. Thursday. The department later said two people were shot and a third was injured in an assault connected to the shooting.
Around 11:52 a.m., officers arrested a woman on Hyde Street between Ellis and Eddy streets in connection to the shooting, according to a San Francisco Police Department spokesperson. Police have not released the suspect’s identity and are investigating the shooting.
ECS executive director Beth Stokes said in a statement Thursday that the nonprofit “will do everything in our power to support the victims, their families, our staff, and our residents as we navigate these challenging circumstances.”
Mercy Housing regional vice president Rick Sprague said in an emailed statement that the nonprofit is “deeply saddened” by the shooting and that the safety and well-being of employees and residents is its “highest priority.”
“In partnership with Episcopal Community Services, we extend our deepest sympathies to the victims and their families,” Sprague said. “Mercy Housing is fully cooperating with law enforcement in their investigation and are grateful for their swift response.”
Denise said Dan-iel is stable and no longer intubated. Her reconstructive surgery will have to be done in stages. No timeline has been set.
Dan-iel grew up in Oakland and became a social worker because she likes to help others, her mother said. Her LinkedIn profile lists her as an ECS employee for more than three years; she has experience in home care and social work dating back to 2016. She is also executive director of Hella Help, a nonprofit that provides support services to Black women between the ages of 18 and 39, according to its website.
“She wants to bear everything about someone else’s life, she wants to help. It makes her happy,” Denise said. “But as her mother, I’m afraid for her because of what could happen. This could happen — getting hurt.”
Kimberly Warmsley, executive director of the California chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, said accounts of attacks against social workers are becoming more frequent.
“We’re hearing about it, reading about it more than normal,” she said. “There’s a lack of clinicians, social workers, counselors. We’re seeing a risk in issues with mental health.”
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, healthcare and social service workers had the largest share of all nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses reported in 2023, at 21.9%.
Warmsley said it can be dangerous for social workers to make home visits because they may not know a client’s mental health status beforehand. She said it’s important for social workers to be deployed alongside clinicians and other workers trained in de-escalating interactions with clients who are irritated or may become violent.
“It’s not like they have ‘I’m mentally ill’ written on their shirt,” Warmsley said. “You don’t know how close they are to their breaking point.”