Addressing homelessness is one of my top priorities. Every single day, we are getting people off the street, connected to services and on a path to securing permanent housing.  

Fiscal Year 2025 ‘Protecting Our Progress’ Budget: Delivering on Our Commitment to Address Homelessness

One of the top priorities in my Fiscal Year 2025 proposed "Protecting Our Progress” budget is the continued work we are doing to address homelessness and help people get on the path to permanent housing.  

My proposed budget includes a $18.3 million increase in funding for homelessness services, reflecting our City’s determination to tackle this crisis with the urgency it demands. Our work to address homelessness focuses on preventing homelessness and adding shelter beds to eliminate unsafe encampments. 

In our efforts to prevent homelessness, I am proposing to fully fund the Eviction Protection Program and the Housing Instability Prevention Program. Additionally, the Multidisciplinary Outreach Team, which plays a vital role in our homelessness outreach efforts, will see an increase in funding from both the general fund and a state grant, enhancing our ability to connect with and assist our homeless population.  

The budget also allocates significant resources to expand the capacity of our shelter system by increasing the number of available shelter beds by at least 1,000. These beds will be complemented with meals, housing navigation and case-management services, ensuring a comprehensive support system for those in need. 

Additionally, we are set to double the size of our Safe Parking program by transforming the H Barracks site near San Diego International Airport into a Safe Parking lot for people who are living in their vehicles, demonstrating a strategic approach to using every possible City resource to help in our ongoing work to address homelessness.  

It is imperative that we create more options for people experiencing homelessness to have a place to stabilize and get back on their feet. Our entire community suffers when we leave people to languish and deteriorate physically and mentally on the street. It’s not only inhumane, but extremely costly and puts a burden on the residents and businesses that must deal with the impact of encampments and people living out of their cars in neighborhoods. 

The lack of sufficient shelter options for those experiencing homelessness in San Diego hinders our ability to provide effective outreach, essential services, and case management, slowing down or even reversing progress we've made. 

If we don’t expand these critical homelessness service programs, it will signal a big step backward in our commitment to addressing homelessness with urgency, compassion and effectiveness. It is crucial that we continue to invest in these programs to support our most vulnerable residents and maintain the health and safety of our entire community. 

Progress in Transforming H Barracks

A milestone has been reached at the H Barracks site, where all buildings have now been demolished.  

This essential step paves the way for both the site's long-term use hosting facilities for San Diego's innovative Pure Water recycling project, as well as for the site’s interim use as a site for homeless services. Over the next few months, work will continue one site to improve the area.

H Barracks is set to become a part of the City’s successful Safe Parking Program, providing a secure and managed environment for individuals and families who lost their housing and are forced to temporarily live in their vehicles. The transformation of H Barracks represents a significant step forward in our efforts to provide compassionate solutions for homelessness while simultaneously advancing a major water infrastructure project that will benefit San Diego for generations to come.

San Diego Uses State Grants to Clear East Village Encampments and Connect Residents with Housing

State grant funding is helping keep San Diego sidewalks clear of encampments near one East Village neighborhood. Using Encampment Resolution Funding (ERF), last June the City focused on a string of encampments spanning from Broadway to F Street and 7th to 10th Avenues in East Village. The goal was to connect unsheltered residents with housing, while ensuring sidewalks and streets are clean. 

Six months since these efforts first concluded, the area remains free of encampments. California’s ERF grant funding helps pay for ongoing housing costs, and since efforts began in the area, 24 people have secured permanent housing; another 24 people from the encampment are in shelters. 

The City’s Homeless Strategies and Solutions Department contracted with the nonprofit organizations National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) San Diego and Healthcare in Action to initiate intensive outreach efforts in the E-Street encampment area, aiming to establish relationships with unsheltered residents and provide necessary services. 

The City has two more upcoming ERF grants projects. One focuses on a stretch of I-15 near City Heights, and another is a larger collaboration with the County of San Diego, City of Santee and Caltrans to address unhoused individuals along the San Diego riverbed. 

San Diego Advances Affordable Housing with State Grant 

San Diego is set to build more affordable housing thanks to an innovative state grant program.  

The California Department of Housing and Community Development’s Multifamily Finance Super NOFA funding program is designed to spur much-needed housing development by reducing administrative barriers. This year’s awards, totaling nearly $523.8 million, support 51 housing developments across California that will include 4,018 homes, along with infrastructure improvements needed to support this development. 

In San Diego, this critical state resource will enable the construction of 546 new homes in Pacific Beach, Mission Valley and City Heights. 

We must continue to build more housing to meet California's extensive needs, and this program underscores our City’s ongoing commitment to solving the housing crisis in partnership with the state. 

From Helped to Helper: Formerly Homeless Veteran Gives Back in PATH Kitchen  

A formerly homeless man is now giving back to the organization that helped him find housing.

U.S. Marine Corps veteran Patrick Gilligan volunteers every week in the kitchen at PATH’s Connections Housing near downtown. Formerly unsheltered, Gilligan once stayed here and has a special relationship with residents.

“Human connection is everything,” Gilligan said. “I tell people all the time – I don’t judge how someone ended up here – I don’t judge how that happened – but you never feel bad for giving someone a meal. You never feel bad for making sure the place they slept last night was safe.

Gilligan says he finds comfort speaking with residents, sharing stories and offering support or encouragement.

“I do feel like it’s what I’m supposed to do,” Gilligan said. “I believe that with every fiber of my being that I’m supposed to tell a story... There's so many people that are just down on their luck and that’s what I’m so grateful for – that I feel so blessed about. I needed just a break. I needed just a minute to be able to breathe, to be able to do the math and find my way home again.”

Many City-funded homelessness programs rely on volunteers, and organizations will find duties that match people’s skills.

“They can come and cut desserts, they can come and make sandwiches, they can help cook if they like – if they’re comfortable doing that – whatever level their comfortable with,” said Brian Jackson, executive chef at The Urban Taste, which runs operations in the PATH kitchen.

For volunteer opportunities with PATH, go to epath.org.