Homeless in San Diego

HISD's Housing Resources Listings in San Diego County

For more information and referrals to shelters, housing and other resources call 211 or 858.300.1211. Visit http://www.211sandiego.org or email resourcecenter@211sandiego.org.

Alpha Project
Supportive Housing Project | 434 13th Street, San Diego, CA 92101 | Phone: 619.696.6500

Crisis House

1034 N. Magnolia Avenue, El Cajón, CA 92020 | Phone: 619.444.1194 | http://wwwcrisishouse.org | Transitional housing for homeless families and domestic violence victims (East County residents) | motel vouchers for emergencies | housing for the disabled and for substance abuse recovery | domestic violence shelters - DVLINKS | Phone: 1.888.385.4657 (listings throughout San Diego County)

Interfaith Shelter Network

Phone: 619.702.5399 | Only by referrals from 211 or social services agencies.

PATH San Diego

Interim Housing is a 30-90 day program with the goal of moving individuals who are homeless, chronically homeless and deemed vulnerable or at risk on the streets into permanent housing. | Outreach: 619.786.2809

Rachel's Women's Center | Catholic Charities

759 8th Avenue, San Diego, CA 92101 | Phone: 619.696.0873. Emergency shelter for single women. Stay varies from 6 months to a year.

San Diego Rescue Mission

120 Elm Street | Phone: 619.687.3720 | http://www.sdrescue.org | Christian-based residential programs for single men and women with children. Emergency overnight shelter for women with children under twelve years old. | Phone: 619.819.1844 (7:00 P.M. to 7:00 A.M.)

San Diego Youth Services

A shelter for homeless or runaway teenagers ages 12-17 | Phone: 619.325.3527 | For ages 16-24 Take Wing Transitional Living Program | Phone: 619.221.8600 ext. 254

Urban Angels Inc.

1404 5th Avenue, San Diego, CA 92101 | https://ilasd.org/listings/urban-street-angels-churchward/ | Offers an emergency overnight shelter for 20-25 homeless youth ages 18-25 years old. The shelter currently operates weekly on Tuesday nights at Mission Gathering Church in North Park and also operates on two or more Fridays a month at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Dinner and breakfast are served as well as access to showers, basic medical attention, and community referrals. Phone: 619.780.1308

The San Diego LGBT Community Center

Sunburst Youth Housing Project | http://www.thecentersd.org/programs/youth-services/youth-housing-project.html | The Center’s Youth Housing Project provides safe and supportive housing for San Diego’s homeless youth, including LBGT and HIV-positive youth. The 23-unit facility is located in downtown San Diego at 1640 Broadway, close to City College, public transportation, community health facilities and other essential resources. The facility is wheelchair accessible and contains two units that have been retrofitted to accommodate persons in wheelchairs. A major goal of YHP is to ensure that youth have easy access to needed services that will support them in maintaining stable housing | Questions about eligibility and services may be directed to Victor Esquivel at vesquivel@thecentersd.org or 619.692.2077 x207.

South Bay Community Services

430 F Street | Chula Vista, CA 92101 | Phone: 619.420.3620 | 24-hour hotline: 800.640.2933 | http://southbaycommunityservices.org | Transitional, Affordable housing and support services for youth and victims of domestic violence.

Father Joe's Villages

1501 Imperial Avenue San Diego 92101 | Phone: 619.233.8500 | Emergency shelters; long-term transitional housing for single men, single women, and families

YMCA Turning Point Transitional Living Program

4145 Swift Avenue, San Diego 92104 | Phone: 619.640.9744 | Ages 16-21 | Single men and women, pregnant youth, young parents with their children

YWCA Domestic Violence Shelter

24-hour hotline: 619.234.3164 | Single women, women with children for 30 days

HISD.Life's The Emancipation Project

Empowerment Through Education and Entrepreneurship

To successfully implement a residential vocational and
recovery program for San Diego’s homeless individuals who
also, have a psychiatric diagnosis.

From professional assessments of the participants’ mental and
physical conditions to training in advanced laser-cutting
techniques and carpentry, the program aims to empower its
participants through self-sufficiency by learning both coping
techniques and vocational skills.

The Emancipation Program is a residential program designed
to foster mental health wellness in a recovery-oriented
environment. Through strategic alliances with education and
social services agencies plus a body of volunteers,
participants will obtain market-competitive skills for industry
and self-sufficiency.

► Program duration: 2 yrs. ► Amount of participants: 15

► On-site staff: 2 ► Transportation necessary: 2 vans

starting point of the emancipation project

Orientation Period

Mental Health Evaluations

Connection to Social Services

Potential Partner:

CRF Community Research Foundation

Mental Wellness Education:

Group Therapy

Connection to Dual Diagnosis Resources

Daily Routines including Physical Wellness

POTENTIAL PARTNERS:

MHA – Mental Health America, Community Research Foundation

YMCA

24-Hour Fitness

Vocational Training:

Basic Woodworking

Basic Sustainable Farming

Laser-Cutting Wood Fashioned into Products

Potential Partners:

Tree San Diego

Open-Source Maker Labs

The Maketory

Precious Plastic

Fab Lab

Design and Entrepreneurial Skills

As a part of the curriculum in the program, design plays a crucial

role, which can result in products to sell using wood:

The assistance of an industrial product developer is necessary for the success of this endeavor. Please contact me if you or a colleague is interested.

The purpose of this project is to enable the participants to become self-sufficient and at the end of the program, every client will own a tiny home they learn how to construct and maintain. This is an excellent motivation to stay in the program and achieve success.

Let's make this vision a reality by sharing this project with friends and colleagues. I appreciate your support. Thank you.

Auntie Helen's Needs Your Help

Auntie Helen's Thrift Store has an overstock crisis and purchasing items at their store will provide funds for people living with HIV and AIDS. Please visit their location at 4127 30th St, San Diego, CA 92104. Thank you for your support!

Auntie Helen's History

"Gary Cheatham founded Auntie Helen’s in a one-car garage in July 1988, as a fluff-and-fold laundry project to help one person with AIDS.

After that, four very important people entered Gary’s life and put Auntie’s on very positive footing. Joan Kroc (her husband, Ray Kroc, helped start McDonald's), San Diego Mayor Maureen O’Connor, The Mayor’s twin sister Mavoureen, and the distinguished community activist Ben Dillingham. These people helped open and financially support the store in North Park where Auntie’s has been for 29 years.

Since that time, our grassroots, community-based agency has served thousands of people with HIV and AIDS, providing free laundry services for people who are too sick to do their own. Auntie Helen’s expanded to include a thrift shop in August 1989. Co-located with our laundry service, the shop financially assists the laundry operation.

Auntie Helen’s was the first program of its kind, and is still the only one of its kind currently operating in the U.S. Auntie Helen’s was named as a National Point of Light by The White House in 1991. Auntie Helen’s has also received an Apostolic Blessing from His Holiness Pope John Paul II, and has been awarded many state and local honors.

Since our humble beginnings, 100% of the net proceeds have benefited HIV/AIDS organizations in San Diego and San Diego County. We started with a voucher program, which provided clothing and items to our referred clients, clothing and blankets for the homeless, and small food distribution for those living with HIV/AIDS. We still provide laundry services for those clients referred to us by a licensed doctor. Additionally, we have volunteers from the TRACE, ARC and SIP programs which are all Mental Health programs with the school, county and private sectors."

Homeless San Diego resident offers a unique solution to homelessness in the city

In an effort to help those in need, humanitarian Orlando Barahona has proposed an emergency housing plan he calls Las Casitas Tiny Homes Village. The housing plan calls for the creation of a small colony of houses that can be used as transitional homes for homeless men and women including their children. The Village will also serve as a place where medical help, casework, and possibly specialized job training can be obtained on-site for the homeless community.

In “A Homeless Voice,” a short film by Brooks Venters, Barahona talks about how his life as a freelance web designer and graphic artist changed when he became homeless after losing his biggest clients. He then suffered from substance abuse and was admitted into programs off and on. Considering himself to be a secular humanist, Barahona also found it difficult to find help in a religious-based program, saying in the film “Am I supposed to just, you know, pray my anxiety away? That’s not going to work for me, I need to talk to a professional.” After learning he was HIV positive, he sought medical treatment which proved difficult to get, thus leaving him unconvinced that the programs in place were meeting his needs. The 24-minute film also takes a look into the housing plan and how he got the idea. “A Homeless Voice” is the first film by Venters, a digital marketing associate from Oceanside.

In a business plan outline sent to The Mesa Press by Barahona, estimates for the village are set at $1,520 per home. The cost is based on a previously made small house village in Canada for which this plan draws inspiration from. An official prototype has not been designed yet, but the idea would be small inexpensive and portable “pods” that tenants can take with them once they have accumulated enough public service hours or paid for themselves after finding employment. Owning a portable house could be considered an incentive for people to volunteer and participate in the program.
Submitting his idea to a design contest for nonprofit developers and organizations was also suggested as a way to design the first prototype and get public funding, as made possible through the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987. The act, signed into law by President Ronald Reagan, provides federal funding to programs that support the homeless.

A representation of what Las Casitas would be like. Courtesy of Orlando Barahona.

After contacting a nonprofit developer, Barahona was told by the potential partner that the proper research would be conducted in order to have a proposal and application submitted by the deadline for the competition. The deadline passed in September with no help from the other party, leaving Barahona without a developer or contractor to help with the project.
The first priority of the housing plan would be to provide transportation to health programs or work sites for tenants. An area in Oceanside is being considered due to its close proximity to law enforcement and a local hospital. As an alternative, large trucks could be converted into mobile units that could then provide those services as well as casework or job training for residents. These mobile units could also be reused and sent to other locations that need them.

The village would have a park or rest area, security post, and a central tower where showers, a dining hall, and other basic living accommodations can be fulfilled for those living there.
Barahona is currently in a transitional housing program. More information on him and his cause can be found on his blog hisd.life, and “A Homeless Voice” is now available to stream for free on YouTube.

This Article was first published at The Mesa Press in San Diego.
Image one: Courtesy of Brooks Venters
Image Two: Courtesy of Orlando Barahona

The Vicious Flower Circle

HISD's Housing Resources Listings in San Diego County