San Diego Housing Commission Opens Additional Shelter Space Due To Cold Weather

>>> Rain and chilly temperatures have prompted the opening of additional emergency shelter beds for the homeless in San Diego. A combined total of 280 extra beds are available tonight. Ed father does villages and the path connections housing shelter downtown. This is in addition to the 310 shelters that have been up since the end of last year. Homeless advocates say many homeless people will still find themselves out in the elements during the San Diego Colts neck. Joining me is Deacon Jim Vargas President and CEO of father Joe's villages. Welcome to the program. He opened up more shelter bed starting last night because of the cold wet weather. How many people make use of the emergency shelter last night? >> We had 250 additional beds available, 76 made usage. You may ask yourself why is that, there are a lot more people on the streets you are right. That is typical actually when the first night we opened up the shelter beds, people don't hear of the fact that they are open or frankly, they think well it's only going to be open for a night let me stay where I am it's not worth the effort even though it's cold out there. It is not unusual. We try to get the word out as much as possible we put it on 201 as much as possible and word-of-mouth. We were happy to have 76 people with us. >>> One issue that comes up as if they are able to take their possessions and their pets. Is that possible at father Joe's and Clement weather shelter? And it is possible to an extent. We are sometimes at capacity at the 250. The more items that we take, the less room we will have the law of physics. We do limit it we have to limit it to the inclement bed. If a person has a shopping cart, it's too much we don't have the space for it. For the inclement weather beds. >>> Reminders for the criteria for opening the inclement weather shelter. >>> There is too. One is that it be 50 degrees or lower overnight, and 40% more probability of precipitation. >>> What are the rules and regulations in other words was the opening and closing. >> They check in at 4 PM. They have an evening meal with us. At that point in time, most people don't realize, this is not just extra room we have, we have two dining rooms and take down all the tables in the dining rooms and bring in cots. At 4 AM, those cots have to be taken up. The dining room is reconfigured. And then they can have breakfast with us because we have to make it available for breakfast. And then they are back out on the streets. We encourage them to come and stay with us at the day center. At that point, they sit there opens up at 7 AM. That is open until 4 PM. They can be at the day center. That is when we try to connect with them and start to develop relationships so that we could help to get them off the streets on a permanent basis. >>> That's what I was going to ask you because the residence at the bridge shelters the tents those residents are being helped into permanent housing. Are there similar services in the inclement weather shelter. >> The and Clement weather shelter is just an overnight cot and a hot meal. And if they need a change of clothes, if their clothes are wet we provide that is strictly that nothing more than that. >>> Speaking of the bridge shelter, there are three in the city. Father Joe's operates the one for families and single women, his father Joe's bridge shelter full ? >> Yes it is. We have 150 beds, 50 a dedicated single women, the other hundreds of family. The 100 families, 29 families we have 69 children. >>> The goal in these emergency shelter tenses to get 60% of the people staying there into permanent housing within three months. Your tent has been opened almost two months. How has that effort gone ? be in the tent has been opened six weeks now. It is going slowly. That is not unusual. We have two placements at this point in time. It is to single women who have been placed into permanent housing. We are working on picking that up. It's a lot more difficult to place families than it is to play single men and women. Families depending on the family size, the larger the family the more difficult it is. The intent with the bridge shelter is to bring people in who have the resources, the resources means that their vouchers have been identified for them. So that they can be linked up with housing. The reality is there aren't enough vouchers out there for the resources, and more importantly there are not enough units out there. This has been on KPBS before that we initiated the turn the key initiative last year built it will introduce 2000 affordable housing units into the market for the next four or five years. We as a management team and as a board realize that we are going to continue in this hamster will and not get out of it and not produce as a community these units. We cannot do it alone at father Joe's villages. We have 2000 units and we combine forces with the city, we could really make a difference as it relates to this crisis. >>> Forecaster say colder than usual weather is expected in San Diego at least until the end of the month with more rain showers on the forecast two. How far out this father Joe's decide the increment weather shelter will be open? >> It is day by day. Our weather switches quickly. You may be thinking that there will be rain but there is no rain. We really look at it and monitor it on a daily basis. We make the decision by 2 PM in the afternoon as to whether or not we will open that evening. >>> But it is open tonight? >> It is open tonight. We made the determination yesterday for two days in a row that the forecast looked is such that we should be opening it up these two days. >>> I have been speaking with the king -- Deacon Jim Vargas with father Joe's shelter. Thank you very much. >> Thank you very much.