The Safe Parking Program in Encinitas will close at the end of the year, according to Jewish Family Service (JFS).
The agency has run the program at the Encinitas Community & Senior Center parking lot since 2020.
"In five years, the Safe Parking Program in Encinitas has provided 306 people with a safe place to park and sleep," JFS CEO Dana Toppel said in a statement to KPBS. "Through the program, 145 participants were able to obtain more secure housing."
Gregg Trachtenberg, who lives around the corner from the lot and plays basketball at the community center every day, is sad the program is ending.
“I feel bad for them because they need a place to go,” he said. “I don't know if it's a money thing, but I thought it was really working pretty well. It's been here for a couple of years.”
Encinitas Mayor Bruce Ehlers said it was a money thing. The city had offered to fund the program for a six-month extension, but JFS said that wasn’t sustainable. Ehlers said he was shocked that JFS turned down the extension.
“They'd just done a six-month extension with us and did not have a problem with it six months ago when they did it," he said. "But this time they said, ‘No, we can't do that. We can't hire people for just six months.’ But they just did it. I don't know why this story changed.”
JFS declined an interview with KPBS, but told the City Council last month that it couldn’t do a program with integrity and compassion for six months. The agency had asked the city for a one-year contract costing $610,000.
"We will operate the Safe Parking Program through the end of December and will continue to provide additional services and resources to Encinitas residents through JFS programs and our partners," Toppel said.
“I think it’s too bad that they have to find another place to go,” Trachtenberg said.
The only other safe parking program in North County is in Vista. That one is also operated by JFS.
