Story and photos by Miriam Raftery

File photo: cart at a homeless camp in Spring Valley

Updated with information on additional actions La Mesa has taken in the past week and will consider this week to help its homeless residents.

View background report provided to council members

September 17, 2020 (La Mesa) – The state and county want to convert a Holiday Inn in La Mesa to provide 139 units of transitional housing for the homeless and those at risk of becoming homeless due to COVID-19.  Supervisors initially approved an application to the state for the “Homekey” project on Sept. 15 with no prior notification to the city of La Mesa, residents or businesses nearby. 

Updated with corrected figures for El Cajon, where homelessness rose and a higher percentage are without shelter than last year.

By Miriam Raftery

May 2, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) – For the second year in a row, the annual Point-in-Time homeless count for 2019 found a 6% drop in the number of homeless people living on the streets and in shelters across San Diego County.  The count found a 1% increase in those who are sheltered and a 10% decrease in those left unsheltered.

Next meeting set for Sept. 6 in Lakeside as community seeks solutions to its growing homelessness problem

By Ana Nita

View video here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOWE1HAQS7c&feature=youtu.be

August 29, 2018 (San Diego’s East County) -- Eric J. Lund, Director of the East County Homeless Task Force and CEO of the East County Chamber of Commerce, announced last week that East County will receive $2 million out of the $18.8 million in state funding for San Diego County to solve the homelessness problem.

By Paul Kruze

February 18, 2018 (El Cajon) -- The El Cajon City Council on Tuesday continued to address issues concerning the city’s growing homeless population, such as considering signs to direct the homeless to resources. 

By Jonathan Goetz

Photo, left: Eric Lund, CEO, San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce and Chair of the East County Regional Task Force on the Homeless

August 27, 2017 (El Cajon) - The El Cajon City Council approved four budget items earlier this month regarding homelessness, as well as approving a partnership agreement with the El Cajon Collaborative. Council unanimously approved $2,000 for anti-panhandling signs, $3,550 for a mobile app to help the homeless find service providers, $10,000 for a homeless reunification program to reunite 20 homeless people in El Cajon, and $125 for a brick at the El Cajon collaborative.

By Miriam Raftery

April 4, 2017 (San Diego) – One of the harshest cuts in President Donald Trump’s budget is his proposal to completely eliminate the U.S. interagency Council on Homelessness.  The Council helps all homeless people, but has been particularly effective helping homeless veterans. It has been successful in ending homelessness among veterans in three states and cutting veterans’ homeless nationwide by 47 percent. Associated Press reports.

By Miriam Raftery

June 13, 2016 (San Diego’s East County) – The San Diego County Grand Jury has issued a report critical of four cities in East County for failing to provide adequately for the needs of homeless people, including failing to apply for federal funds available for that purpose. The Grand Jury report, titled “East County Cities’ Lack of Response to Homelessness,” also made recommendations to improve the situation.

This is the latest in a series on homeless persons in East County based on first-person accounts. Because voices of the homeless are seldom heard in the media, this provides an ongoing platform for the homeless to relay their unfiltered stories. If you are homeless, or know of a homeless individual willing to be interviewed, please contact editor@eastcountymagazine.org.

By Richard Darvas

June 28, 2010 (El Cajon) -- Lucy has lived a rootless life. In a recent interview with East County Magazine, the 46-year-old homeless woman detailed how she lost her way. (To shield her children from untoward attention, she is using a pseudonym for this article.)