City officials have found permanent housing for 24 families who were staying in the Golden Hill homeless camp during the hepatitis outbreak.
Mayor Kevin Faulconer said the families, who have a combined 57 children, have either moved into or been matched with permanent housing before the camp closed last week.
“Just a few months ago these families had nowhere else to turn. Now they’ll be spending this holiday season in a home they can call their own,” Faulconer said. “This goes to show what’s possible when we work together as a community to provide a safe and stable environment for people to begin turning their lives around.”
The temporary camp at 20th and B streets was opened in October in a city parking yard and operated by Alpha Project. It has been supplanted by a heated tent structure that opened Dec. 1.
All of the single adults who were staying at the camp area have moved to the tent at 16th Street and Newton Avenue.
Two similar structures — dubbed “temporary bridge structures” — will open by Dec. 31. The three structures will provide temporary housing for a combined total of 2,040 people.
“Thanks to quick action by city staff and the team at Alpha Project, the transitional camp area allowed us to make essential progress on battling the hepatitis A outbreak, connect homeless San Diegans with services and housing opportunities, and prove that creative new approaches to homelessness can be effective for San Diego,” said City Councilman Chris Ward, who chairs the council’s Select Committee on Homelessness.
