Officials in National City announced the opening of a new homeless shelter Wednesday morning, marking a major expansion of the number of beds and services available for people experiencing homelessness in the South Bay.
The shelter, called the South County Lighthouse, is located in a former church building on Euclid Avenue and is run by San Diego Rescue Mission. The faith-based, Christian nonprofit also operates three other shelters in the county, along with one of the city of San Diego’s inclement weather shelters.
The Lighthouse will offer hot meals, showers, laundry, job training, case management and a temporary place to sleep for 30 days. It will also accept pets. At the end of that term, officials said the shelter will give clients options to move on to somewhere else, like the Rescue Mission’s long-term recovery center in downtown San Diego.
The organization plans to hold Bible studies and other religious activities as well. But officials said they won’t require anyone to take part in those activities.
Rescue Mission CEO Donnie Dee said the new shelter is part of his organization’s efforts to take a regional approach and prevent people being pushed from city to city.
“That’s a part of what we’re dealing with,” Dee said. “People are moving around because we’re harassing them and we’re saying ‘you can’t stay here,’ and so they’re going to some other place where they’re not going to be harassed as much.”
For years, cities in the South Bay have offered few resources for people who need temporary shelter. The only other homeless shelter in the region is Chula Vista’s tiny homes project, which focuses on transitional housing and has faced operating challenges.
“You could call 211, and they couldn't give you anything locally other than going to a completely different city,” said Rosy Vasquez, an advocate and former CEO of Community Through Hope.
National City’s new shelter expands those options significantly. Vasquez said she’s particularly hopeful because Rescue Mission is already operating two other emergency shelters in Oceanside and San Diego.
“What's great is we're not looking at a pilot program,” she said. “We're looking at a programming that's already been implemented and that they've been able to find success. I think that's very encouraging.”
National City has around 174 residents living on the street according to the January point-in-time-count, although experts say counts like that under-represent the true number of people experiencing homelessness.
That count found that the South Bay is home to around 8% of the county’s unhoused community. The city of San Diego accounts for the vast majority of unsheltered residents.
The South County Lighthouse has been three years in the making. In late 2021, the National City City Council voted to approve a conditional use permit for the project under then-Mayor Alejandra Sotelo-Solis.
City Councilmember Marcus Bush lives just down the street from the new shelter. When permits for the project came before the City Council, Bush said he rallied his neighbors to increase support.
“You don't really find too many elected leaders that live right next door to a homeless shelter that actually support it,” Bush said. “But this is what we need to do, because this is a homeless crisis and this is something that is needed in our community.”
The new shelter is funded entirely by private donors and won’t rely on any public dollars for construction or operations, according to Dee. He also said Rescue Mission has not made any agreements to prioritize National City residents. But Dee said shelter staff are working closely with National City’s outreach team to admit new clients.
Some advocates don’t agree with Rescue Mission’s focus on religious activities, including advocate Rachel Hayes, who moved into permanent housing last year after decades of living on the street.
“Faith-based is not for everybody,” Hayes told KPBS earlier this spring. “Nobody knows what they need more than the person themselves.”
Other projects to address homelessness are also underway in the South Bay. The city of Chula Vista is hoping to turn a motel on Palomar Street into a new permanent, supportive housing complex, although that project has faced delays.
The South County Lighthouse is currently starting to add guests and will be accepting up to 75 people for now. By the end of the year, they hope to be offering temporary housing to more than 160.
To learn more about getting admitted to the South County Lighthouse, visit San Diego Rescue Mission’s website or contact National City’s HOME Team at (619) 336-4537.
