SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- City of San Diego leaders on Monday announced that nearly 500 shelter options would become available to replace the 614 that will be offline by the end of 2024.
Golden Hall and Father Joe Villages’ Paul Mirabile Center will all close by the end of the year.
By December, city leaders say 160 beds will become available inside the Veterans Village of San Diego for seniors and veterans; 56 beds will become available to house people with substance abuse disorders; another 37 beds will be available at the new San Diego Mission Shelter in National City; and Safe Sleeping sites will add 235 new tents.
The City of San Diego is also working to transform an old motel into a 135-bed shelter space. No date was given on when that will open.
In addition to this, the city created a homelessness diversion program to connect homeless individuals with housing solutions to free up shelter space faster.
"We had no other choice. We have been laser-focused on expanding our shelter capacity since I became mayor. While we have some beds that are coming offline, we worked in a collaborative fashion with multiple partners to make sure no one in our shelter system today is returned to the streets," said Mayor Todd Gloria.
The funding will come from the city’s $4.2 million budget to address homelessness and funds that would've been used on Golden Hall and the Mirabile Center
Once all these sites go online, Gloria said the work isn’t finished, as he is still negotiating with the owner of the controversial 1,000-bed shelter space off of Kettner and Vine.
