Before her death at age 84, a San Francisco woman left her $400,000 condo to the homeless, NBC Bay Area reported.
Leila Boroughs, a former nurse who never married, told her attorney she had no family members with
whom to leave the estate.
She arranged in her will for the 525-square-foot condo to be converted into a shelter after her death in September 2011.
“The city doesn’t know a whole lot about her,” said Trent Rhorer, director of San Francisco’s Department of Human Services.
“She wanted to give her estate to help one of the biggest causes, which I guess for her was homeless folks.”
Boroughs’ neighbors described her as an eccentric, kind soul who often fed the homeless outside her lower Pacific Heights apartment building.
“She [understood] how hard it [was] by herself. It’s not easy to handle in the city,” neighbor Irinia Khokhlova said.
Her will specified that the city could sell the condo if it was deemed an unsuitable shelter. Earlier this month, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors voted to sell the condo, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The property will secure $400,000 to$500,000 for the city’s homeless fund, Rhorer said. He added that the money could help 150 families acquire housing or stay in homes that they are about to lose.
