Addressing homelessness is my top priority as your Mayor. Every single day, we are working to get people off the street, connected to services, and on a path to securing permanent housing. This weekly e-newsletter provides updates on each of these efforts and how we are ending homelessness in our City one person at a time. 

New Shelter for Families Open 

The City’s new shelter for families at a former motel in Barrio Logan opened this week to families who had been staying at Golden Hall.  

Each family now has a private room. In total, there are 42 rooms, each able to house up to four people, for a total capacity of 168. 

Families at the new shelter also receives a full slate of supportive services, including assistance in securing permanent housing. The goal at all our City-run shelters is to offer wraparound services that help people get further on their path to finding permanent homes.   

This shelter is operated by Alpha Project, under a contract administered by the Housing Commission. 

This new shelter is part of the City’s comprehensive shelter strategy, which includes short-, medium- and long-term plans to grow our shelter system to move people off the streets and onto their feet in a home they can afford. 

Safe Sleeping Residents Share Their Experiences

Our Safe Sleeping site at 20th and B at last count had more than 148 people staying in 124 tents. 

Joseph is one of them. He reached out to me via social media and told me he wanted to share his experience of what it was like to go from sleeping on the sidewalks in the East Village to staying at the City’s Safe Sleeping site in Golden Hill.  

Joseph has been homeless for months, but says this program is helping him get on a path to permanent housing and end his homelessness. In addition to clean bathrooms, showers, meals and water, clients work with case managers to address the barriers that are keeping them from becoming housed. The site also has round-the-clock security. 

“I feel a lot safe here,” he said. “It’s a lot more positive than 17th and Imperial, you know, because all my stuff was stolen several times.” 

Ultimately, he said the tents and other services at the Safe Sleeping site make the experience of being unhoused far better than what he went through on the sidewalks.  

Building a Shelter System for Everyone  

Did you know our homeless shelters allow people experiencing homelessness to bring their pets with them?  

Did you know our shelters also allow people to stay with their partners and/or families?  

We have reshaped our shelter system in order to serve more people.  

In short, we are working to meet the needs of everyone and have made the barriers-to-entry low at our shelters, because we know that accepting shelter is the first step to getting people connected to services, treatment and on the path to permanent housing. 

Understanding the City's Shelter System



The City of San Diego has contracts with various service providers throughout the city to provide shelter options for individuals to stabilize in a safe, sanitary environment while they are connected to permanent or other long-term housing.  

The shelters listed below are City-funded or included as part of the City’s Coordinated Intake System for shelter placements. (Note: These do not represent all shelters operating within the City of San Diego.) 

• Alpha Project Bridge Shelter I  
• Alpha Project Bridge Shelter II  
• Alpha Project Family Shelter 
• Community Harm Reduction Shelter  
• Community Harm Reduction Safe Haven 
• Father Joe’s Villages Bishop Maher Center  
• Father Joe’s Villages Paul Mirabile Center  
• Golden Hall, First Floor  
• PATH Connections Housing  
• Rachel’s Promise Women’s Shelter  
• Rosecrans Shelter  
• Seniors Landing  
• San Diego Youth Services  
• Urban Street Angels Youth Shelter   

Family Reunification Helps People Get off the Streets 

As part of the City’s homeless outreach, the Downtown San Diego Partnership (DSDP), under a contract with the City, engages with unsheltered residents and works with them to reconnect them with family members that might be able to support them.  

DSDP’s Family Reunification Program team works closely with clients and their families to ensure all individuals being reunited have a supportive environment upon their arrival, so they don’t fall back into homelessness. The team monitors participants’ progress to measure long-term success. 

Since July 1, 2022, the program has helped 436 people reconnect with their families and given them a solid foundation to embark on a new start. 

The program is low-cost, high-impact and plays a key role in the City’s efforts to reduce unsheltered homelessness. You can find more program details on the City’s Homelessness Strategies and Solutions Department’s webpage.

Planning Commission Advances New Policies to Speed Affordable Home Building 

Of the many causes of homelessness, the inability to afford housing is at the top. Rents have skyrocketed in San Diego over the past decade due to a severe shortage of homes.  

That’s why my administration is so focused on policy reforms that will lead to housing creation – and ultimately ensure every San Diegan has a roof over their head at a price they can afford.  

The most recent suite of such policies, my Housing Action Package 2.0, was just unanimously approved by the San Diego Planning Commission and will head to the City Council this fall. 

If approved, these pro-housing policy reforms will help put a sizeable dent in our housing crisis, which is separating families, contributing to homelessness and endangering our city’s economic future.  

The package of policies will allow the construction of more new homes near transit; provide protections to existing residents; increase the supply of land available for new homes; and spur the building of different types of housing that San Diegans of all income levels can afford.   

Many proposals are focused on protecting San Diegans who need it most, including people experiencing homelessness, students and seniors. 

In advancing this package of reforms, the Planning Commission held back the implementation of Senate Bill 10, the state law passed in 2021 that allows for the development of townhomes, rowhomes, small-scale multi-home buildings and other “missing middle” home types in transit-rich areas. They will convene a working group to engage further with the public on what a thoughtful implementation of the law would be prior to reconsidering it in the future. 

I look forward to presenting the policies that did advance to the Land Use and Housing Committee on Sept. 21 and then the full City Council later this fall.  

City to Invest Another $20 Million for Affordable Housing   

Creating more homes that San Diegans can afford is at the top of my to-do list. One program that helps us get that done is called Bridge to Home, a City program I launched in 2021 that provides gap financing for affordable housing projects. 

We recently invested more in this highly effective program, adding another $20 million in funding available for Round 3.  

This investment shows my commitment to making it easier and less expensive to build homes that are affordable for struggling San Diegans. This is the third round of Bridge to Home funding, and it is a significant investment that will help builders get their projects off the ground and result in hundreds of new affordable homes for San Diegans. 

So far, Bridge to Home has helped fund 937 affordable homes in Rancho Bernardo, City Heights, El Cerrito, Downtown, Encanto and San Ysidro, including 272 homes with attached supportive services for people experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless.