Politicians shout constantly about tackling homelessness. Activists stage rallies about it and march through the streets. Many regular San Franciscans complain about the city’s homeless problem to anybody who will listen.

Erica Dann talks about it, too. But sometimes when she does, she’s wearing a glittery crown, sash and evening gown.

In the “you learn something new every day” category, I learned that Miss California lives right here in San Francisco — specifically the Marina, which is less surprising — and that her platform is addressing homelessness.

The 27-year-old Florida native, who works in human resources at Google, will talk about helping San Francisco’s homeless population on stage as she vies for the Miss USA title on Thursday. The winner will go on to compete in the Miss Universe pageant. (Yes, the pageant owned by Donald Trump until 2015.)

Dann rents a one-bedroom apartment on Chestnut Street. She moved to the city four years ago for her Google gig after receiving a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in international business from the University of Florida and working in sales in Atlanta.

Beauty queens aren’t necessarily known for their social justice causes, but Dann shared some tidbits that make her seem legit.

She volunteers regularly in the dining room at Glide. She voted for Proposition C in November to tax the city’s biggest businesses — such as, yes, Google — to pay for homeless services. She’d welcome a Navigation Center in the Marina.

Here are some highlights from our chat the other day.

On beauty pageants: A few months ago, Dann was looking for something fulfilling to supplement her busy career and personal life, and a friend told her she should try beauty pageants.

“I said, ‘I’m not doing that! That’s not for me! I’m not in that world!’” she said. But she reluctantly researched Miss USA and learned community engagement was a big part of it.

“For me, moving out to San Francisco, I felt like I hadn’t really held myself accountable enough to get involved in the community and make a difference,” she said. “Pageants aren’t what they seem on the outside. You can make it your own, based on what you care about.”

She applied to Miss California online and was accepted into the competition — being named Miss San Francisco by virtue of her home address. She then had to pick a platform, an issue she cares about and dedicates her time to or raises money for, and chose homelessness. I mean, there’s nothing more San Francisco than that. She competed in her first pageant, Miss California, in January and won.

On homelessness: Dann said she was “floored” when she moved to San Francisco and saw the city’s huge homeless problem up close, particularly the tent camps that dot some neighborhoods.

“It was really, really shocking, frankly,” she said.

She volunteers at Glide a couple of times a month and has spearheaded fundraisers for the church. She addressed homelessness on stage at the Miss California pageant, sharing statistics such as the 555,000 homeless people living in the United States, nearly a quarter of them in California. She’ll talk about the issue again at the Miss USA pageant in Reno.

She thinks government needs to provide more mental health treatment slots, more drug rehabilitation centers and more entry-level job training programs. She also thinks San Francisco needs to get creative when it comes to housing the homeless and pointed to BART debating whether to turn its old train cars into shelters.

Homelessness and obvious mental illness among those living on the streets has seeped into residential neighborhoods all over San Francisco, including the Marina, and Dann said she would “absolutely” support a navigation center in her neighborhood.

On Google: Dann used to commute up to two hours each way to the company’s Sunnyvale or Mountain View offices in one of those love-’em-or-hate-’em big white shuttle buses. She’s now based in the San Francisco office at One Market Street, which she called “the biggest game changer.”

“They’re investing in San Francisco,” Dann said. “They know there are so many employees who work here and don’t necessarily want to do the commute. It’s a long commute, a real journey.”

“My friends back home would say, ‘We don’t understand how you sit on a shuttle for four hours a day!’” she added with a laugh.

Google has signed four leases to expand its office space in San Francisco in the past year alone, boosting its footprint to 1.6 million square feet and making it the third-biggest tech tenant behind Salesforce and Uber.

Dann acknowledged that the growth of Google and other tech companies in the city has helped drive up the cost of housing and pushed some people onto the streets.

“We owe it to individuals who’ve been pushed out and lost homes to help them,” she said. “Corporate responsibility comes into play.”

That’s why she voted for Prop. C, encouraged by Glide’s strong endorsement of the measure.

On San Francisco: Dann said she could see herself staying in the city and raising a family — “well, besides the cost of living.” She loves the easy access to Lake Tahoe, Muir Woods and Wine Country. She said she also likes how driven everybody is, though I’m guessing that’s more true of the tech industry than some other jobs.

“It’s a different kind of hustle,” she said. “You just really have that grind and push, and everyone around you is so successful and doing such incredible things. It’s really motivating and makes you want to thrive.”

If she wins on Thursday, she’ll have to move to New York City for a year, taking the glass box she keeps in her closet that holds her crown and sash with her.

“It’s so hard to put it on — it’s heavy,” she said of the shimmery crown. “I have a lot of hair, so it takes 20 bobby pins. It’s no joke.”

Asked whether anybody who hails from bleeding heart, oft-mocked San Francisco has a chance to win Miss USA, Dann said she’s confident the answer is yes.

“If anyone tries to challenge me on that, I’ll set them straight,” she said with a laugh. “It’s the best city!”

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Sundays and Tuesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf