From the San Diego Community News Group:
Mayor Todd Gloria on Feb. 25 announced new partnerships between the City of San Diego and three nonprofit organizations to bolster programs helping young people who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
The new shelter and outreach opportunities will specifically target transition-age youth – people between the ages of 18 and 24 who are experiencing homelessness or transitioning from state custody or foster care. That group makes up 10 percent of San Diego’s unsheltered homeless population, according to the San Diego Regional Task Force on the Homeless’ 2020 Point-in-Time Count.
“Living on the streets at any age can have traumatizing effects on a person’s health and mental well-being, so it’s important that we do everything we can to intervene and help these young people before they experience some of the long-term issues associated with homelessness,” Gloria said. “Targeting our investments toward programs and services focused on prevention will help us end chronic homelessness.”
Using Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP) funds granted by the State of California and previously allocated by the City to serve this population, the San Diego Housing Commission has executed contracts to provide the following services in the city:
- Urban Street Angels – Addition of 19 beds for transition-age youth at the Urban Street Angels Center in Downtown and support of a hotel voucher program for certain cases ($305,400)
- San Diego Youth Services – Addition of four beds to the existing eight-bed Youth Emergency Shelter program for minors; expansion of the five “SafeTAY Network” beds to now operate five nights per week versus the previously available two-night stay option; and support of a hotel voucher program for certain cases ($172,740)
- San Diego LGBT Community Center – Funding for a homeless outreach worker to prioritize LGBTQ transition-age youth but will also serve all transition-age youth ($65,000)
Read the San Diego Community News Group's article, "Mayor announces programs to serve youth experiencing homelessness," featuring the San Diego Housing Commission.