SAN FRANCISCO — The nonprofit LifeMoves connected Kim Snodgrass, a retired director of labor relations at a union, with an open shelter bed after he had been sleeping in the International Terminal at San Francisco International Airport for more than six months. Snodgrass was one of dozens of people experiencing homelessness who stay at the airport, where a LifeMoves outreach team has operated since 2018.

Snodgrass struggled to afford living in the Bay Area after retiring. He moved to Mexico in search of a cheaper lifestyle but found it still too expensive. He returned to SFO and stayed at the airport after his flight landed, eventually living there for more than six months.

While at the airport, Snodgrass stood by the security line and asked travelers for discarded water or food items. "They're going somewhere nice or coming back from someplace nice and just oblivious to you, really. It's like you don't even exist," Snodgrass said.

Eventually, Snodgrass was unable to get enough to eat. "I considered suicide. You get so hungry. It's very painful," he said.

James Paxton, a LifeMoves outreach coordinator who led the organization's outreach trips at SFO for one year, found Snodgrass an open shelter bed. LifeMoves provides shelter beds only in San Mateo County near the airport. People experiencing homelessness arrive at the airport from across the region and often want to stay close to their own communities.

Paxton described the barriers his clients face. "I need to reestablish their ID. I need to get their social security, their birth certificate. A lot of them don't have any of those items, and it makes it hard to get services," he said.

According to the San Francisco Police Department, officers encounter about 25 to 45 homeless people at the airport every day, though some individuals may be counted twice. People experiencing homelessness have had a presence at SFO since at least 2018, according to the airport.

At 5 a.m. in the International Terminal, janitors push carts of cleaning supplies and airport employees arrive carrying lunch boxes. Some travelers sleep on top of their bags, while others sleep without luggage — not because they are between flights, but because they are not traveling at all.

"If we can be here more consistently, I think we'll have a greater impact," Paxton said. "We do need more housing in order to help this problem."