The Escondido City Council recently decided to pull funding from Haven House Shelter, a long-running homeless shelter in the city run by Interfaith Community Services.
By the numbers
- Interfaith Community Services CEO Greg Anglea said the city expressed concerns about Haven House "not serving a high enough portion of people — residents — here who became homeless here in Escondido." Interfaith’s internal data shows 50.42% of residents are from Escondido.
- Haven House Shelter expected to receive about $50,000 in funding, roughly the same amount it has received in the past decade, Anglea said. That amount is only a small portion of the shelter's budget, he said.
Why it matters
- Haven House Shelter is the only full-service, low-barrier homeless shelter in the city "helping general population unsheltered in Escondido get off the streets," Anglea said. "So we were surprised to see it not funded."
- While $50,000 is a small part of the shelter's budget, Anglea said it speaks to the larger issue that funding for homeless services is dwindling.
Looking ahead
- Partly because of the loss of funding, Haven House residents will move into the Turk Center — a renovated former motel bought by Interfaith.
- Haven House Shelter will host a community meeting at 1 p.m. Friday at the shelter, 550 W Washington Ave., to discuss some of the issues that were raised in the City Council meeting, including the loss of funding.
- Escondido Mayor Dane White has yet to respond to a request for comment from KPBS.
