To show the magnitude of the growing homeless problem in San Diego County, Father Joe’s Villages on Tuesday set up a temporary “sea of shoes” on 16th Street and Newton Avenue.
Each pair of tennis shoes, sandals, combat boots and high heels in the block-long display represented the 8,700 homeless men, women and children on the streets, said Jim Vargas, president and CEO of the homeless services organization.
San Diego’s homeless population increased nearly 3 percent over last year, according to the annual count by the Regional Task Force on the Homeless. The region has the fifth largest homeless population in the nation, and the third largest number of homeless veterans.
The growing population is flocking to shelters, including the Village, which provides refuge to 1,000 people every night and prepares 3,000 meals each day.
Vargas said the display of shoes, in various styles and sizes, brings the vastness of the problem to life.
“We have little shoes there because of babies, we have children’s shoes, we have combat boots because we have veterans who are out on the streets,” Vargas said.
The display is being used in the Village’s new television ad campaign to draw the public to help by volunteering their time and providing donations.
“We wanted to call people to action, to make people aware how serious the crisis is,” Vargas said.
Vargas said the donated shoes used in the display will be given to homeless people.
