The city of San Francisco has taken one of the most significant steps ever toward tightening up relations between the galaxy of nonprofit and government agencies that deal with homelessness.

For the first time in memory, leaders of all 76 nonprofits that deliver homeless services spent the day meeting with managers of the city’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing to figure out how they can work together better, with the aim of reducing wasted time or money.

Normally, directors of places like Brilliant Corners, which runs supportive housing programs, and Larkin Street Youth Services rarely talk to each other — and in fact compete for government and philanthropic funding. But on Friday in a meeting hall at S.F. State University, everyone put aside their competitive instincts and talked frankly about how they might line up better for their common goal of getting people off the street.

They’re going to have to work harder on that goal next year, as Mayor London Breed and Jeff Kositsky, head of the homelessness department, have vowed to tighten up on accountability in 2019. That translates to potentially trimming services that aren’t having an impact.

We need to talk more openly with one another, some said. Ground-level workers, who are often paid so little they qualify for government aid themselves, should get paid more, others said. The list of suggestions was long. And organizers brought in “Lethal Weapon” actor and social justice activist Danny Glover to give them all a pep talk about rowing hard in the same direction for the common good.

“We did this gathering because San Francisco is fundamentally changing how we address homelessness,” said Kositsky, citing not just the New Year goal of greater accountability, but also new client-tracking systems and sharply increased funding coming up in 2019 — including possible millions from Proposition C. “And the only way we’ll do this is if we have all the nonprofits and the city working closely together.”

William Pickel, director of Brilliant Corners, said he’s seen this kind of dialogue work in Los Angeles, where he also has operations, and was encouraged.

“If you want accountability, first you have to have trust and mutual understanding,” he said. “This is a very good step forward.”

— Kevin Fagan

Email: cityinsider@sfchronicle.com kfagan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfcityinsider @KevinChron