KPBS Midday Edition

Deacon Jim Vargas On Utilizing Convention Center For Homeless San Diegans

By Maureen Cavanaugh / KPBS Midday Edition Co-Host, Brooke Ruth / Senior Producer, Radio News

Published April 9, 2020 at 11:10 AM PDT

This story was published more than 4 years ago.

Cots line the San Diego Convention Center floor as it is converted into a homeless shelter, April 7, 2020.

Deacon Jim Vargas On Utilizing Convention Center For Those Who Are Homeless

On Wednesday, Father Joe’s Villages relocated the last group of homeless men from one of its shelters to the convention center.

The San Diego Convention Center is filling up as shelters around the city transfer their homeless residents to the facility.

A major effort is being coordinated to try to provide the homeless a refuge from the COVID-19 virus. On Wednesday, Father Joe’s Villages relocated the last group of homeless men from one of its shelters to the convention center.

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Shelter staff will now turn their attention to admitting homeless people living outdoors — on the streets, in the canyons and along the San Diego River to the now-empty shelters. Father Joe’s has also converted one of its shelters into a space for more than 170 homeless people who are at high-risk for the coronavirus.

Deacon Jim Vargas, Father Joe’s Villages president & CEO, joined Midday Edition on Thursday to discuss how the transition to the convention center is going.

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KPBS Midday Edition Homelessness San Diego COVID-19

Maureen Cavanaugh

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Maureen Cavanaugh has been a familiar voice for KPBS listeners for more than 15 years, serving in a variety of capacities including announcer, host, and producer. As host of KPBS Midday Edition, Maureen has interviewed a wide range of notables, such as comedienne Sandra Bernhardt, actor John Lequizamo, author Chuck Palahniuk, composer Marvin Hamlisch, artist Robert Irwin, and designer Zandra Rhodes. But of all the interviews Maureen has conducted, her most special was with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Before joining KPBS in 1997, she worked as a news anchor for KSDO and KOGO News Radio in San Diego. While working for commercial radio stations in San Diego and in Salt Lake City, Utah, Maureen reported on both hard news and lifestyle features. Maureen has received three "Golden Mike" awards from the Radio and TV News Association of Southern California for economic reporting and breaking news. She has also received a "Best of Show" and “Best Radio Newscast” awards from the San Diego Press Club and the "Flo" Award from Public Radio Program Directors Association for Best Public Radio Announcer in a large market. Maureen is a native of Queens, New York, but after more than 20 years in San Diego she feels she qualifies as a real Southern Californian.

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Brooke Ruth

Brooke Ruth is the senior producer for KPBS Radio News. She previously served as a producer for "KPBS Midday Edition" and a web producer. Before joining KPBS, Brooke was a web editor for four newspapers and a local television station. She began her career in news at the Imperial Valley Press. She has also been part of the web teams at the Napa Valley Register, North County Times, and U-T San Diego. While pursuing her undergraduate degree at UCLA in psychology, she worked on the student newspaper, the Daily Bruin.

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