The past year was eventful for those working to eliminate homelessness in San Diego. The successful Registry Week event counted and surveyed homeless people to assess their risk of dying on the street. The former World Trade Center building was identified as an additional “one-stop shop.” The United Way’s unique collaborative Project 25 is targeting services and housing for the most frequent users of publicly funded emergency services. Recent studies have acknowledged San Diego’s interventions and innovations. There has been more public discussion on homelessness and its impact then I have seen in three decades. It challenges us to evaluate what can be done better.
Homeless people have been counted every year for over a decade. Previous counts and this most recent Registry Week survey results are consistent, indicating we know the scope of the problem: People living on the street are most prevalent downtown. About 25 percent are veterans; a third are 55 or older and 38 percent to 57 percent of homeless people have physical and/or mental health issues making them vulnerable.
Much we knew, but the Registry Week survey included a vulnerability index used in cities across the country and challenges us to use this best practice every year to assess individual vulnerabilities to target scarce housing and service resources. Bringing innovation to current practices enhances our knowledge and will help us work smarter.
The San Diego City Council approved a negotiating agreement to rehab the World Trade Center building to serve as a one-stop shop. It was rare to see unanimous support for a project of this scope. The one-stop model has proved to be effective and efficient and was pioneered in San Diego at St. Vincent de Paul Village. The project will increase affordable housing linked with support and will increase year-round interim beds necessary to get people off the streets. Increasing shelter capacity while borrowing from what works is a recipe that will make a difference.
Home Again’s Project 25, started two years ago by former Councilman Brian Maienschein and United Way, is becoming a reality. Maienschein saw that a failure to provide housing to the homeless costs communities hundreds of millions of dollars every year. He gathered nonprofits, county, city, police and hospitals to identify the most frequent users of expensive public services. Project 25 will reach out to the most costly frequent users and provide them housing with supportive services while closely tracking outcomes and cost savings to the community. Those identified will likely be the most ill with complex medical, psychological and addiction conditions requiring costly supportive services and housing with rental subsidies.
This housing-first strategy is expensive but is still expected to save the community money. Correctly prioritizing a costly intervention for those who are the biggest drain to public resources is a smart strategy and one St. Vincent de Paul Village is proud to lead.
A recent report by the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department shows that transitional housing works and is cost-effective. The report details outcomes of housing programs in five cities including San Diego. It shows that only four of 195 families studied were homeless again within a year of leaving the programs. Further, 86 percent of the families leaving shelters moved into their own place. This is consistent with a study following 12,000 people served at St. Vincent de Paul Village over seven years that determined that 68 percent never returned to our programs. These studies indicate temporary housing is a cost-effective way to end homelessness. Assessing peoples’ individual needs and linking them to the least intensive intervention can only pay dividends for the community and the homeless.
In a world of diminishing resources, I am challenged every day to help as many people as we can in the most efficient and effective way. I am fortunate to witness changes made daily at St. Vincent de Paul Village by individuals overcoming barriers to self-sufficiency. I am encouraged by the new ideas, fresh dialogue and renewed interest. I look forward to this year’s possibilities. We will continue learning and improving and ending homelessness one life at a time.