Increasing the City’s outreach and housing capabilities, the State of California last week awarded $2.45 million to the City of San Diego to help unsheltered residents in the East Village neighborhood move from homelessness to safe and stable housing.

San Diego was one of eight communities across the state to be awarded a portion of the $48 million Encampment Resolution Funding (ERF) in the latest announcement. Nineteen other communities received ERF grant funds earlier this year.

The ERF program is a competitive grant that aims to assist local jurisdictions in ensuring the safety and wellness of people experiencing homelessness in encampments; resolve critical encampment concerns and transition individuals into safe and stable housing; and encourage a data-informed, coordinated approach.

As part of the grant application process, the City identified an area located along E Street and 8th and 9th avenues in East Village where there are known concentrated strings of encampments. The encampments include approximately 50 single adults, with more than half being African American and/or over the age of 55.

The City will primarily use its Coordinated Street Outreach Program to provide street-based case management to identify resources to meet the needs of each person living in the area and move them quickly toward housing. The City’s outreach program has been impactful in providing critical health services, enrolling clients in self-sufficiency programs and improving housing readiness.

“The City’s Homelessness Strategies and Solutions Department is working hard to apply for funds being made available at the local, state and federal levels,” said Hafsa Kaka, Homelessness Strategies and Solutions Department director. “These dollars will augment our outreach and housing efforts to move individuals in a known area into a safe environment.”

This grant will focus efforts on placing clients into long-term permanent supportive housing (PSH) through the Coordinated Entry System. If long-term housing is not available for a particular client, this grant will help subsidize shorter-term bridge housing, such as independent living facilities, skilled nursing facilities, placements with family and CalAIM-supported housing. When referrals to PSH are identified, the program will use hotel rooms as temporary housing placements to help support individuals’ independent living skills.

This award adds to the millions of dollars the City has advocated for and received from the State, including the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) Grant and Family Homelessness Challenge Grant, among others.

The City will work with the State and providers in the coming months to finalize plans for the implementation of the outreach and assistance to residents in the encampment area.

“My administration has been laser-focused on addressing encampments that are unsanitary and unsafe for both the people living in them and the communities around them,” Mayor Todd Gloria said. “This new funding adds to our ongoing efforts to resolve encampments in East Village and connect unsheltered residents to safe housing and supportive services.”