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. 

City Secures $2.45 Million State Grant to Help Unsheltered Residents in East Village 

The City of San Diego secured a $2.45 million grant to help end people’s homelessness in East Village, becoming one of eight communities across the state to be awarded a portion of the State’s $48 million in Encampment Resolution Funding (ERF). 

The targeted area for the encampment resolution includes the blocks surrounding the Old Downtown Central Library with a heavy concentration of encampments: Broadway to F Street, and Seventh to Tenth Avenues in East Village. 

This infusion of state dollars provides more resources to help place people experiencing homelessness into long-term or permanent supportive housing. If long-term housing is not available for a particular person, this grant will help subsidize shorter-term bridge housing, such as independent living facilities, skilled nursing facilities, placements with family and CalAIM-supported housing.

Over 1,500 San Diegan Volunteer for Regional Point in Time Count 

HIGH RENTS CITED AS CAUSE OF HOMELESSNESS FOR MANY 

Over 1,500 volunteers fanned out across the region last Thursday for the annual Point in Time Count. This federally mandated count attempts to quantify how many people experiencing homelessness are on the streets and in shelters, and volunteers also conduct interviews to better understand the circumstances of unhoused people. 

In my 15 years of volunteering for the annual count, what I hear most often is that the high cost of rent in San Diego often leaves people stretched, and one unexpected expense like a medical bill or car trouble can cause people to end up on the streets. 

That’s why this year – working in partnership with City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera, tenant advocates, and the rental housing industry -- we're going to build out our recently announced tenant-protection framework into a City ordinance that does more to protect renters than the City’s ever done before. 

In addition, the City’s Housing Commission will be doubling funding for homelessness prevention programs from $2 million to $4 million, which will help an additional 250 households. 

I’m encouraged that last Wednesday, the Biden-Harris administration released a new Blueprint for a Renters Bill of Rights that lays out a set of principles to drive action by the federal, state and local government and the private sector to strengthen tenant protections and encourage rental affordability.

Partner Profile: Downtown San Diego Partnership 

Did you know the Downtown San Diego Partnership operates the Family Reunification Program? This program helps reconnect people experiencing homelessness with families and loved ones who are willing to provide stable living environments. 

he program enables teams to intervene early in people’s homelessness to help provide solutions that can ensure their period of homelessness is brief and non-recurring. The program also monitors the participants’ progress to determine long-term success.

In 2022, the Family Reunification housed 488 clients – a 66% jump from the prior year, when the program housed 293. Here’s just one success story:  

Kimberly and Jose came to San Diego after working many years in Texas and saving up for a new life here. Unfortunately, they could not find work, and spent their savings staying in hotels and applying for apartments. After six months, they became unhoused and discovered they were going to have a baby around the same time.  

When Kimberly delivered their baby boy, they decided to go back to live with family in Texas. They came to the Family Reunification Program with their 3-day-old bundle of joy after being released from the hospital, asking for help with travel home. Greyhound tickets were booked out due to holiday demand, so the team put the family into a local hotel until they could travel the next day.

The program team greeted the family before they left with their bus tickets, meal cards, diapers, clothes, and baby items to help them on their new life journey.

New Safe Parking Lot in Rose Canyon Will Offer Trailers 

Later this month, I’ll be bringing to the City Council  a contract with Jewish Family Services to operate the City’s fourth Safe Parking site.  

The lots offer those who don’t have a home and live in their vehicles a safe place to stay overnight. They also have bathrooms, meals and case management services that will help end their homelessness.  

The newest site will have 15 parking spaces for cars as well as 12 trailers for families. The trailers were provided to the city by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the site has been improved to provide water and sewer hookups for each. 

If the City Council approves the operating contract, the lot will open soon after.

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 
• Community Harm Reduction Shelter 
• Father Joe’s Villages Bishop Maher Center 
• Father Joe’s Villages Paul Mirabile Center 
• Golden Hall, First Floor 
• Golden Hall, Second Floor 
• Old Central Library
• Palm Avenue Bridge Housing Program 
• PATH Connections Housing 
• Rachel’s Promise Women’s Shelter 
• Rosecrans Shelter 
• San Diego Youth Services 
• Urban Street Angels Youth Shelter