Printer-friendly version
By Miriam Raftery
November 26, 2010 (San Diego, California) – As temperatures hit record cold Thanksgiving night, San Diego’s homeless still had no winter shelter.
“People are literally freezing out there,” said Bob McElroy, director of the Alpha Project, which helps San Diego’s homeless and mentally ill get off the streets.
Council first considered a shelter in the East Village area, to serve homeless people countywide. (East County has no winter shelter.) Then in October, Council voted to open Golden Hall as a temporary winter shelter—but reneged on that pledge the day after the election, voting to shift the shelter to Barrio Logan instead. But yesterday, workers were still assembling beds—leaving the homeless outside in a bitter cold that dipped below freezing.
“It's irresponsible to wait until the last minute,” David Ross, a representative of the homeless population, told City Council members in an October 22 meeting.
In the past year, sixty have died on the streets of San Diego—some from exposure to winter weather. A check of the City’s website for homeless services, however, has not been updated on the “winter shelter program” page since 2009. Around 8,500 people are homeless in San Diego County, according to the Regional Task Force on the Homeless, and most have no shelter.
More than a fourth suffer from mental illness and many struggle with alcohol or drug abuse. A high percentage are veterans, including some who served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Many are elderly and/or have medical conditions, such as a war injury or diabetes, that makes life on the streets even more dangerous. Increasingly, families with children are joining the ranks of the homeless in San Diego.
Concerns over the East Village site initially proposed included its proximity to a school. But the idea of converting Golden Hall in the downtown civic center plaza as a winter haven for the homeless drew complaints that the city could face lawsuits over cancellation of events, as well as costs of providing access for the disabled—plus the building has no fire sprinklers.
The winter shelter chosen will ultimately open at 1625 Newton Street in Barrio Logan, though an exact date has not yet been announced.
Meanwhile, a homeless man sleeps huddled in front of a storefront in La Mesa’s downtown village. A woman bunks down at a park in El Cajon. A former homeless camp along a shaded and relatively sheltered creekbed in Spring Valley stands empty, following a recent raid by Sheriff's deputies.
Downtown, San Diego Police have resumed ticketing the homeless for vagrancy--even though they have no place else to go.
While San Diego City and County leaders feasted over this Thanksgiving holiday weekend, throughout San Diego County, homeless people continue to shiver--and risk dying--in the cold.
Recent comments