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. 

Kenneth’s Path Out of Homelessness Went Through Golden Hall 

Kenneth Ivy was homeless for three years before he finally accepted help from outreach workers and took up residence at the City’s temporary shelter at Golden Hall. He stayed there for a few months as his caseworker worked to get him into a permanent home.   

“And now the Lord blessed me, and here I am,” Kenneth said as he showed off his new studio apartment at an affordable housing complex in Grantville that was partly funded by the San Diego Housing Commission. "I feel like an angel in the sky. I am so happy to be here.” 

Kenneth says his personal journey from sleeping on the sidewalks to having a place to call his own involved kicking addiction, committing to his belief in God, and getting over his own reservations about going into the City’s shelter system. He came around to shelter, in part, because he watched a friend of his go through the shelter system and end up with an apartment.   

Kenneth now encourages people experiencing homelessness to accept shelter and services. While shelters are far from an ideal setting, he says, it’s ultimately worth it.  

“Bite the bullet,” he says. “Ignore all the negativity and think of what you're gonna get. That's better than where you're at, so block everything else outside your mind and just keep going.” 

Getting People Out of Unsafe Encampments and Into Shelters  

The City and our law enforcement partners have been enforcing the Unsafe Camping Ordinance for just over a month, and the impacts of the new law can already be seen in some of the sensitive areas – such as parks and near schools – where the City is focusing its efforts first.  

In Balboa Park, for example, dozens of encampments have been cleared, and some of the people who had been staying in them are now staying at our Safe Sleeping site at 20th and B or at other City-run shelters. Not every person offered shelter says yes, but every single acceptance gets us one important step closer to the goal of ending homelessness in the City of San Diego.  

Park rangers say they have seen a “significance decrease” in unsheltered activity throughout Balboa Park, in part because of enforcement efforts, but also because the ordinance has sent a strong, clear message that setting up camp in public places is unlawful. 

Encampments pose a serious health and safety risk to the people living in these them. And for the people forced to navigate around them during trips to Balboa Park, there are health and safety threats, too, such as drug paraphernalia and sidewalk accessibility issues.  

Everyone deserves access to our parks. Everyone deserves a roof over their heads, too. The Unsafe Camping Ordinance is helping us work toward both these goals while helping provide a safer, better environment for all of us. 

Many Golden Hall Residents Relocated 

Residents at Golden Hall are transitioning to new shelters as the City prepares to close the temporary shelter.  

So far, the families at Golden Hall have been relocated to our new shelter in a former motel in Barrio Logan, where each family has their own room. The transition-aged youth who’ve been staying there have also moved to different facilities.  

Prior to closing the Golden Hall, the single men living on the first floor will be relocated either to homes or shelters. No one staying at the facility will return to the streets.

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  

City’s Bridge to Home Program Funds Two More 100% Affordable Projects

The City’s Bridge to Home program has helped two new affordable housing projects get across the finish line.  

Affirmed Housing’s The Helm in Little Italy opened with 77 new homes for low-income San Diegans. This benefited from $1.2 million in City funding through the Bridge to Home program. 

Community Housing Works also broke ground on construction of a project in Cortez Hill that will create 87 new affordable apartments -- 14 of which will be permanent supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness.  

Launched in 2021, Bridge to Home provides gap-financing assistance to builders to get their projects across the finish line. Through two rounds, we’ve invested roughly $48 million in 11 projects, totaling 937 affordable homes, including 272 for people experiencing homelessness. 

The City is funding a third round of the Bridge to Home program, making another $20 million to offering affordable housing builders to help them complete financing and get more affordable housing underway.

San Diego Secures $45 Million State Grant to Create Affordable Housing

The state has awarded $45 million to San Diego to support the creation of more than 1,180 affordable homes through the state’s Catalytic Infill Infrastructure Grant.  

Under the leadership of Gov. Gavin Newsom and this Legislature, the State of California has been a committed partner for cities like ours that want to be part of the solution to the housing crisis. This major state grant represents another major step forward for San Diego.  

We will put this funding to work as quickly as possible to build out the community infrastructure necessary to support the creation of nearly 1,200 new homes for San Diegans looking for an affordable place to live. 

The state funds will support developments in downtown San Diego and South southern San Diego by funding things like site preparation, concrete paving and traffic signals, plus new residential parking for the housing developments, and transit investments to build better pathways, bus shelters, and bike facilities nearby.  

This grant program works to help fill gaps in financing specifically for infrastructure and improvements that turn existing buildings into new affordable housing projects with the necessary infrastructure and amenities to support them.  

The San Diego projects funded through this innovative grant program build upon policies pioneered by the City of San Diego to address housing affordability, including using surplus state land, building on underutilized land at a trolley stop owned by the Metropolitan Transit System, and leveraging a local community land trust.  

These funds represent yet another way in which the City of San Diego and the San Diego Housing Commission continue forward on our comprehensive approach to creating more housing that San Diegans can afford. 

SDHC Announces More Funding for Affordable Housing and Vouchers for Veterans 

The San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC) has more available funding for affordable rental projects, plus more housing vouchers for veterans.  

Up to $29 million in funding that SDHC administers, and up to 100 Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) vouchers are now available to support the construction of new affordable rental housing in the City of San Diego, including units with supportive services for veterans experiencing homelessness.  

The San Diego Housing Commission’s move to make $29 million available to help builders leverage additional funding sources will result in hundreds more affordable homes, and the City Council and I will put this investment to work as quickly as possible.  

SDHC released its annual Notices of Funding Availability (NOFAs) yesterday. These funds are available at the same time the City of San Diego has made approximately $20 million available for affordable housing through our Bridge to Home program.  

SDHC will award funds to developers through a competitive application process. Affordable housing developers obtain financing from multiple funding sources, including local, state and federal agencies, as well as banks or other private sector financial institutions. SDHC is typically the first funder, which helps a proposed affordable housing development obtain other resources by demonstrating local investment and support.