Dear Friends,

It has been a couple weeks since my last update, so I wanted to bring you up to speed on homelessness in the unincorporated areas of East County. 

In my last email, I shared that County staff began conducting clean-ups and coordinating with homeless services provider HomeStart on Graves Avenue near the El Cajon DMV. We are glad to share that together they got people off the streets and connected to resources before the encampment grew.

Since June 24th, County staff has engaged 10 individuals offering housing vouchers and self-sufficiency services. Below is the full report from the County’s Office of Homeless Solutions on their outreach and clean-up efforts, as well as recent photos of the results of County staff's work.

General Updates 

Stakeholders Involved in Outreach:  

• Homeless Solutions & Equitable Communities (HSEC) Department 
• Department of Public Works (DPW) 
• Homeless Assistance Resource Team (HART) Sheriff's Deputies 
• Home Start – City of El Cajon homeless outreach contractor 
• Behavioral Health Services (BHS) – East County Mental Health Center outreach staff 
• Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) 

Agency Updates 

Sheriff’s Department 

• Sheriff HART deputies onsite with HSEC providing outreach assistance, transportation and facilitation to housing and other resources 

Department of Public Works 

• Removing relinquished trash, debris, and hazardous materials 

The following images were taken on August 10, 2022.

The County officially launched its safe parking lot at the site of the former Magnolia encampment in El Cajon. This is the first County-operated emergency shelter in the unincorporated area in San Diego County history! Scroll to the bottom of this email for some before and after photos.

Safe parking allows individuals and families living out of their cars to have a sanctioned and protected place to park their cars overnight, with bathrooms and services to help them on their path to permanent housing. This program is operated by the County of San Diego's Department of Homeless Solutions and Equitable Communities, and facilitated by the service provider Dreams for Change. For more information, please read through the Frequently Asked Questions document.

To commemorate the launch of this historic event, I joined County staff and Dreams for Change at the safe parking for a press conference.

In case you missed coverage of the event, I wanted to include a list of publications that covered this in the news!

• 10 News | San Diego County to launch safe parking lot for homeless in East County
• KPBS | East County gets its first safe parking lot for homeless
• FOX 5 | New safe parking lot ready for people living in cars
• San Diego Union Tribune | Parking lot for homeless people opens in East County
• County News Center | County opens first Safe Parking Site for Homeless in East County
• NBC 7 | Safe Parking Lot Opening in East County
• East County Magazine | SUPERVISOR ANDERSON LAUNCHES COUNTY’S FIRST SAFE PARKING AREA FOR HOMELESS

Left to Right: Nick Macchione, Director of the County's Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA), Supervisor Joel Anderson, Dr. Teresa Smith, CEO of Dreams for Change, and Barbara Jiménez, Community Operations Officer for the County’s Department of Homeless Solutions & Equitable Communities (HSEC)

It's my job to make County government work for you. If there is any way my office can ever be of assistance to you, please do not hesitate to use the contact form on my website for the fastest response, email me at Joel.Anderson@sdcounty.ca.gov, or give me a call (619) 441-4327.

As always, it's an honor to serve you.