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.

Latest News

After Meeting with Governor Newsom, State Homelessness Funding Restored for San Diego

You may recall recently that Governor Gavin Newsom was withholding state homelessness funds until he could secure commitments by local governments to set more aggressive goals to address homelessness and enhance accountability for tackling the crisis with state dollars.

I’m pleased to report that after traveling to Sacramento to have a frank conversation with the Governor and other local leaders, we have reached agreement on a path to receive our allocation of homelessness funds for San Diego without additional delay. These dollars fund our shelter beds, pay street outreach workers and support rapid-rehousing programs.

As part of the convening, local governments, who are on the front lines of this crisis, were able to discuss with the Governor about how major budget investments from the state of California are absolutely critical to addressing homelessness at the local level. To that end, I made several asks of the Governor and state leaders to continue to help us address homelessness at the local level. This includes:

Increasing the allocation of Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) funding to $2 billion and making that funding permanent;
Cutting red tape that stalls the development of permanent supportive housing;
Supporting significant state reforms on mental health, including conservatorship and investments in mental health beds and clinicians;
State action to combat and support local enforcement efforts to curb the rising presence of dangerous street drugs like fentanyl.

From Homeless to Housed

Meet Delbert

This is Delbert.

Delbert started his transformation off the streets and into permanent housing in the beginning of February 2019. Before that, he had been struggling with heroin addiction and mental illness for more than 20 years. Delbert had spent most of his life going in and out of prison and moving back and forth from family’s homes to the streets.

When he first connected with PATH, Delbert moved into interim housing and started attending regular therapy sessions to help with his mental health. Delbert moved into his own apartment in East Village and “has never been happier to have his life back.” He now enjoys spending his time going to church, conducting Bible study groups, and enjoying old hobbies.

Outreach --> Shelter --> Housing. That’s how we’re addressing homelessness. Learn more about our actions on homelessness here.

Outreach Corner

Focused Street Outreach Events: Concentrated Efforts Connect People to Services and Housing

The City of San Diego’s Coordinated Street Outreach Program conducts focused outreach events across the City. During these multi-agency events, outreach teams canvass an area to engage unsheltered folks where they are and help connect them to supportive services.

Case management, health education, public benefits, mental health services, substance abuse treatment, primary care referrals, and access to hygiene kits, transportation and basic essentials are all offered to people they are able to engage.

Here are the reports from some of our recent focused street outreach events:

Barrio Logan

A multidisciplinary team revisited the encampments in the southeast East Village communities and immediate surrounding blocks in Barrio Logan over the course of the three day focused outreach event., . In total, 26 people experiencing homelessness were connected to cell phone service to ensure their ability to stay in touch with their Street-Based Case Managers, seven people accepted emergency shelter, and two clients were identified as new arrivals to San Diego.

The Family Reunification team met with the couple and plans were established for them to return to Ohio.

Read the full after-action summary report here.

Ridgeview/Webster/Chollas View

The County of San Diego Live Well Mobile Unit joined a multiagency effort in Ridgeview, Webster and Chollas View. Each day , outreach specialists and County benefit specialists visited these target areas to engage people experiencing homelessness.

During the three day event, 19 people experiencing homelessness expressed interest in coming into shelter, 21 expressed interest in street-based case management, and three were identified with an active Rapid Rehousing referral and two come off the street and were placed into a bridge shelter.

Outreach partners provided shuttle transportation to and from these encampments for people experiencing homelessness to continue accessing supportive services, including self-sufficiency programs like CalFresh. Supportive services included access to ongoing case management, health education, vaccinations, public benefits, mental health, substance abuse, primary care referrals, and access to hygiene kits, DMV transportation, and other basic essentials.

Read the full after-action summary report here.

Shelter Update

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.)