SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Father Joe’s Village is in the midst of reimagining and relocating a homeless resource center that’s set to close by the end of this year.
“We can do this, and we're going to do this because it has to be done,” Josh Bohannan, Chief Strategy Officer for Father Joe’s Villages, said. “Build new walls, put in new plumbing for washer and dryers.”
The new day center is going to be at the non-profit’s main campus in the East Village area of Downtown San Diego.
“So, where we are right now is the future site of the new day center at Father Joe's Villages,” Bohannan said. “Really helping to make sure that we can bring the amenities we had at the old Day Center here just at a smaller scale.”
This space at their main campus on 15th and Imperial is going to replace the Neil Good Day Center, which it runs up the road on 17th and K street.
The Neil Good Day Center lost its City of San Diego funding with the latest City budget that was approved in June.
As ABC 10News reported in April, the City was set to pull $948,000 in funding for the center.
“So, we decided, Father Joe's Villages, that we're going to do it on our own. It is an unfunded program,” Bohannan said. “So, that means philanthropy is going to be driving this. There are no public dollars, no city dollars.”
The new center is going about a third of the size of the current day center, so not as much space for people to get off the street and for storage. But it will be next door to Father Joe’s other resources.
“This location is right next to our health clinic. It's right next to our public lunch line. It's right next to our guest services, and so we're able to leverage existing Father Joe's Village's resources to make this happen,” Bohannan said.
Bohannan told ABC 10News the City’s offering $200,000 to help with the wind-down of the current center and the transition to the new one over the next six months.
The City of San Diego sent ABC 10News the following statement about the new efforts from Father Joe’s Villages.
“The City and San Diego Housing Commission have been working with Father Joe's Villages, which is independently exploring plans to continue services such as restrooms and mail services through a relocated and downsized operation at its main campus down the street. The City is supportive of these efforts and has earmarked up to $237,000 in FY27 to support the wind-down of this program. The City values Father Joe’s Villages as a partner and continues to contract with them for other programs. The City recognizes that scaled-down Day Center services will continue nearby. The City looks forward to continuing to partner with Father Joe’s Villages on their efforts to assist people experiencing homelessness and especially their efforts in building affordable and permanent supportive housing – the true solution to resolving homelessness.”
But building and running a place like this cost money.
“The construction cost is through our donors, our generous donors. We are starting our fundraising campaign next week,” Bohannan said. "We need to raise $300,000 just for this year. And then there's the ongoing cost of operating the program 7 days a week.”
Father Joe’s aims to have the doors open by September before the rainy winter season.
