SAN DIEGO — The City of San Diego's two safe sleeping sites opened last year with hopes of providing those experiencing homelessness with a safe place to stay while also connecting them to wrap-around services. CBS 8 is Working for You to find out if the money spent on the tent city is making a difference in helping people get off the streets.
If you've driven by the sites — one at 20th and B street in Golden Hill at the city's Central Operations Yard, and the other at the O Lot in Balboa Park — then you may have noticed the red tents have faded from sun exposure and many have blue tarps draped over them. As CBS 8 found out, there is a reason for that.
“The reason that people are seeing tarps over the tents is the tents leak, condensation gets in them,” said Janis Wilds, outreach specialist for Housing 4 the Homeless. “These tents faded quickly, and when that fading happens the fabric deteriorates and you get more leakage, so people need some kind of shade over the tent.”
CBS 8 reached out to the nonprofit Dreams for Change, which the city contracts with to run both sites. They deferred us to the City of San Diego for comment.
On Monday, San Diego's City Council approved an additional $488,000 to keep the 20th and B Street site up and running through June 30th, 2024, bringing the total cost to run the one site to $1,561,865.43 for a full fiscal year.
CBS 8 reached out to the nonprofit Dreams for Change, which the city contracts with to run both sites, and they deferred to the city for comment.
“We’ve seen it reaching people who are hesitant to accept other shelters, like people who may say no to congregate shelter, they say yes to Safe Sleeping,” said Matt Hoffman, spokesperson for the city.
Between the two sites, 458 people are currently staying in tents, and since opening last year, they’ve been able to connect 28 people to some form of long-term housing.
“The path to housing isn’t something that just happens overnight and getting people out of that crisis care cycle, getting them to a place where they can relax a little bit, start to get connected to services, that’s what these safe sleeping sites do,” said Hoffman.
According to a March 21 census by the San Diego Downtown Partnership, the tally of street homelessness downtown fell to 809 people, the lowest it has been in 3 years since the spring of 2021. While a fair number of people experiencing homelessness moved into nearby riverbeds once the city began enforcing its Unsafe Camping Ordinance last year, the city told CBS 8 their safe sleeping sites are a viable alternative for people to get off the streets and connected with services.
"Whether that is someone getting connected to the proper medical or dental care, enrolling in a detox or substance-abuse program, securing a job, eating healthier, signing up for public benefits, or qualifying for a housing voucher, this progress is not insignificant, and these types of small wins happen every single day," said Hoffman.
While nearly 500 people are currently using the city's safe sleeping sites, Wilds says more work needs to be done to climb out of the hole we're in.
“Every month for over a year now, 18 months I think, more people are falling into homelessness than are exiting homelessness," said Wilds. "This is a housing access disaster that San Diego’s in. We can’t keep doing things the same way with the same results because it isn’t working.”
At CBS 8, we are always Working for You and our community. This is a station promise that we will go the extra mile to solve a problem our audience can’t solve themselves. We want to hear your ideas on how we can cover and help our community. If you have a story idea, please email us at workingforyou@cbs8.com.
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