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More On Our Plans for Homeless Services at H Barracks
Last year, the City released our Comprehensive Shelter Strategy, which outlines short-, medium-, and long-term solutions to meeting the City’s shelter needs, identifying potential locations throughout San Diego.
H Barracks was identified as a medium-term option, and we are currently exploring the options for activating homeless services on this vacant City-owned site.
Any services at the site will be temporary in nature, as it's slated to become the permanent home for Pure Water recycling facilities in about five years. Site preparation for Pure Water, which includes demolition of old Navy buildings, is under way now and will be complete in the second half of this year.
Homelessness is a crisis, and we have an obligation to consider using all vacant City land to help tackle this crisis and get as many people as we can off the streets and connected to safe shelter and services that will help end their homelessness.
We're still early in the planning process, and more concrete details such as the type of shelter and site configuration, won’t become available for at least the next few months. What we do know now is that H Barracks will have the level of services and security that come with any City-provided homeless resource site. Things such as:
- Fencing, for privacy of clients on-site and the surrounding community
- Lighting
- Security stationed on-site and nearby patrols of surrounding areas
- Transportation to and from the site and to other services
- Code of conduct for clients, including no violence, weapons, drug or alcohol use onsite
- On-site services, such as mental health resources, substance abuse counseling, case management, housing navigation, healthcare and medical care assistance, veterinary care, IDs, assistance with Social Security or Disability payments, and the basics, such as meals, restrooms, utilities, laundry, and showers.
This will be an enrolled, referral-based program only, meaning no walk-ups will be accepted. Individuals must be referred through an identified homeless services provider or San Diego Police officers who always offer shelter to people violating the Unsafe Camping Ordinance and/or encroachment laws.
Projects like H Barracks are crucial in expanding the City’s shelter capacity, which then expands the City’s ability to enforce the Unsafe Camping Ordinance. Locations throughout the Peninsula that are currently experiencing issues with people sleeping in parks and on sidewalks near schools would see the benefit of this stepped-up enforcement.
People who live, work and go to school near the H Barracks site are expressing concern about our plans; however, the City is confident that many of the concerns will be addressed in the setup and operation of the site.
In the City’s Safe Sleeping sites located at the edge of Balboa Park, for example, proper security, site activation and coordination with stakeholders have successfully minimized impacts to tourism and local businesses.
“Through engagement with the Mayor’s office and city departments, we were able to discuss how best to implement such a program,” says Peter Comiskey, who runs the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership. “Lot O was well executed by the City and is being well operated, with consideration for transportation to and from the site, active on-site management, and on-site services.”
With H Barracks, early conversations to discuss security and resources have already occurred with members of the community as well as the Airport, the Port, nearby retail and hotel owners, and other tourism and economic stakeholders.
This engagement and coordination will continue over the next few months. As mentioned, the City is in the early stages of this project. There will be extensive public opportunities to engage on questions, concerns and project details in the coming months.
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