As San Diego faces the loss of hundreds of shelter beds before the end of the year, city leaders Monday revealed plans to expand existing options and introduce a homelessness diversion effort to free up spaces.
The initiatives announced Monday are intended to add 363 beds to the city's shelter system — a little more than half of the around 650 beds being taken out of inventory due to planned developments at Golden Hall, Father Joe's Villages' Paul Mirabile Center and Rachel's Promise Shelter, along with the scheduled closure of several temporary shelters.
On Dec. 1, 165 shelter beds will be available for single adult men, seniors 55 and older and veterans at the Veterans Village of San Diego campus. Additionally, San Diego Rescue Mission will add 37 beds, the Alcohol Use Disorder Shelter will add 56 and a former motel will be converted into a non- congregate shelter, adding 105 more beds.
"With hundreds of new beds at multiple sites, we are delivering on our commitment to ensure that no one who is currently sheltered will be sent back to the streets," said Mayor Todd Gloria.
"This is all possible thanks to close cooperation between my administration, the housing commission, the City Council, the Regional Task Force on Homelessness and our network of service providers — all who share the same goal of getting people off the street and connected to care."
While the city has added 930 sites to a range of shelter options — including traditional congregate shelters, repurposed motels and safe sleeping sites for those in vehicles — the number of homeless in the city has continued to outpace space available. The number of homeless in the region increased by around 20% between 2022 and 2023, but a less dramatic increase in the city of around 4% was recorded in this year's count.
Earlier this month, the city added 230 tents at its Safe Sleeping sites with plans to continue to expand that program.
The San Diego Housing Commission, working with the RTFH, will begin its diversion program on Nov. 1, intended to get currently homeless individuals into housing more quickly. The strategies it will undertake to accomplish this include offering some finanical assistance, shared housing situations and targeted case management, said SDHC President and CEO Lisa Jones.
"Through recent listening sessions, we have heard from shelter participants that more choices, including non-congregate shelter spaces, and services are needed," Jones said. "Working with the mayor, City Council and service providers, we are making intentional and thoughtful efforts to address these needs and center our approach on delivering the resources needed to best serve our unhoused neighbors."
Father Joe's will run the shelter for single adult men and seniors at the VVSD campus, and VVSD will operate the beds for veterans.
"At Father Joe's Villages, we know that shelter isn't one-size-fits- all," said Father Joe's Villages President and CEO Deacon Jim Vargas. "To adequately address the growing homelessness crisis, we must provide a diversity of tailored shelter options alongside wraparound services, such as healthcare and social work, for increasingly vulnerable populations."
Last month, the council returned an agenda item to staff which could have given the mayor new authority to act amid a homelessness and housing emergency to give city employees more time to understand the ramifications of such a move.
The item, which was pulled by Council President Sean Elo-Rivera before the meeting, would give the green light to Mayor Gloria to expedite housing permitting and homelessness spending.
If passed by the council when it returns, the action as written would grant the mayor the power to — during a declared local housing and/or homelessness emergency — "make orders and directives to address the emergency, procure contracts to uphold standards of living for homeless San Diegans, suspend certain regulations to procure contracts, including City Council approval for contracts under $5 million, and accept and spend any grant monies to respond to the emergency," a city staff report reads.
On Sept. 6, the city put out a call asking for property owners to offer up locations as future shelter sites.
Gloria's efforts to establish a proposed "mega shelter" remain under negotiation.
His ambitious 30-year lease proposal for a 65,000-square-foot commercial building and its potential transformation into a massive homeless shelter and resource campus were delayed in July, with discussion meant to pick up again in the fall.
The shelter, Hope @ Vine, was proposed at a cost of $1.95 per square foot, with annual 3.5% rent increases and an estimated $12.5 million in facility maintenance costs over the term. The council balked at that price point and said it needed more details.
Site improvements call for a commercial kitchen, laundry facilities, dining areas, indoor and outdoor recreation areas, showers and restrooms. Proposed onsite services include job training, meals, housing navigation and behavioral health services with annual operating costs anticipated to be $26.4 million.
