SAN DIEGO — The San Diego City Council on Tuesday approved a contract with a nonprofit to continue running the city’s Safe Parking Program, including the new H Barracks site.
Plans for the site, near San Diego International Airport, would nearly double the parking spaces available for those without homes. The council approved a one-year contract with Jewish Family Service of San Diego.
“Programs like Safe Parking give us a chance to intervene early and get folks on a path back to housing, and with the H Barracks site, we’ll be able to help hundreds more struggling San Diegans,” Mayor Todd Gloria said.
The program already has 200 spaces to aid the homeless, and the council approved adding 190 more where people can legally park and sleep while working to find homes.
H Barracks, set to open next month, also includes parking for recreational vehicles.
“The Safe Parking Program traditionally serves a different population than what we often see at our shelters or in our Safe Sleeping Program,” said Sarah Jarman, director of the city’s Homelessness Strategies and Solutions Department. “We know from the latest Point in Time Count that the need here has grown and not just for cars, but for oversized vehicles too.”
A separate contract is needed between the city and JFS for the safe parking site located off Balboa Avenue at the nonprofit’s administrative campus.
Program sites include restrooms and services, including housing aid, mental health counseling and job training. Participants work with case managers to create individual housing goals, according to the city.
“The Safe Parking Program is a powerful example of what we can achieve through partnership,” said incoming JFS CEO Dana Toppel. “We are deeply grateful to the city of San Diego for their continued collaboration and support, which allows us to provide a safe, dignified space for individuals and families experiencing homelessness.”
The H Barracks were previously military barracks, but the crumbling buildings were torn down earlier this year. The area is the future site of a San Diego Pure Water treatment facility. Paving was completed this month at the location and mobile office trailers for program staff have been added. Electrical work and lighting upgrades are to be completed soon.
The site could be open through 2029. The city has four one-year options to renew the agreement, before the Pure Water facility begins operations.
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Preceding story initially published in Times of San Diego with which San Diego Jewish World shares stories under the auspices of the San Diego Online News Association.