Homelessness Solutions
Supportive Housing Projects
To truly solve homelessness downtown, it is critical to have the right mix of housing and services. CCDC, on behalf the City's Redevelopment Agency, has developed a comprehensive plan to build supportive housing units to help house this vulnerable population.
What is supportive housing? In essence, it is affordable housing coupled with individualized health, counseling and employment services for persons with mental illness, chemical dependancy, chronic health problems, or other challenges. It is widely considered the most current and best approach to help reduce and eventually eliminate homelessness.
CCDC, on behalf of the City's Redevelopment Agency, has helped build almost 300 supportive housing units downtown, and has another 190 in the pipeline, not including the Connections Housing project planned for the World Trade Center building.
Click here for a list of supportive housing projects in downtown San Diego.
Connections Housing
The San Diego City Council, serving as the Redevelopment Agency, agreed to buy and transform the nearly vacant city-owned World Trade Center building on Sixth Avenue into a one-stop homeless facility downtown. The $31 million project will be run by three organizations: PATH (People Assisting the Homeless), Affirmed Housing, an award-winning developer and operator of affordable housing facilities, and Family Health Centers, which has 29 locations throughout San Diego County.
The concept for the proposed homeless shelter is based on the highly successful model used in Los Angeles called PATHMall. At that 40,000-square-foot facility, society’s down-and-out can find everything from mental health services, job placement help, drug and alcohol addiction counseling, health care and more -- all under one roof. The proposed San Diego facility also would have 150 beds for interim housing as well as 73 studios to provide permanent supportive housing.
Understandably some in downtown remain concerned about the impact the proposed shelter might have on the neighborhood and local business community. But those involved in running the proposed facility have worked diligently with the community and have established a Neighborhood Advisory Council to make sure the surrounding neighborhood remains unaffected.
The operators of the proposed San Diego facility have promised that there will be no lines outside the building or public feeding programs outside the building and a strict conditional use permit will be in place to help enforce that pledge. Click here for staff report. A full-time security staff will be on hand, a “no loitering” policy will be strictly enforced and there will be a street outreach team to respond to any issues regarding the homeless clientele. Staff at the proposed facility will also work with the Clean & Safe program to ensure that the surrounding area will be trash and graffiti free.
The experience at the PathMall in Los Angeles should be reassuring to San Diego residents. In the seven years since PATHMall was founded, the crime rate in the area dropped 43 percent, according Los Angeles Police Department statistics.
Click here to visit Connections Housing website.
Monarch School
Educating homeless children is vital to breaking the cycle of chronic poverty. Since 1987, the Monarch School has focused on educating some of San Diego’s most disadvantaged children. Through the years, the school’s enrollment has climbed and is expected to double within the next few years, straining its current facility. CCDC, on behalf of the Redevelopment Agency, is working with the Monarch School to ease those concerns by helping it develop a new Agency-owned site at 1625 Newton Ave. The $12.6 million project will ensure that Monarch School continues its most important mission. Click here for most recent staff report.
