SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Homelessness in San Diego can be seen in many places.
“The unsheltered are not lost causes,” Michelle LeFever said. “They just need someone to spend enough time, energy, and compassion to get them back to where they used to be.”
LeFever, with NAMI San Diego, was once unhoused.
On Monday, the nonprofit was awarded a $4.4 million contract in state grant funding from the city of San Diego to work on its program helping people placed into housing from encampments stay there.
“That’s where stabilization begins,” said Ketra Carter with the city of San Diego. “It’s that interpersonal relationship case managers have to help individuals make decisions and have harm-reduction conversations. What worked on the street is not necessarily going to work today, and what are some of the changes we might need to make so that we can sustain housing in the future?”
NAMI worked with the city previously on a similar program, using state grant funding to help encampment efforts on E Street in downtown San Diego last December. The city said 63 people from that initiative are still in permanent or long-term housing.
“You’re getting more creative answers because they were given the opportunity to have a choice,” Vanessa Onstage, with NAMI San Diego, said. “You’d be surprised—they’re being successful because they’re choosing when they’re doing.”
The city said the latest round of funding will support at least 131 people in programs along the I-15 corridor and the San Diego River.
It will support people like a mother and her young daughter who were placed into housing from an encampment at Park De La Cruz in City Heights.
“And something you get to see full circle—the family that was at Park De La Cruz is part of this Supportive Services and Temporary Financial Assistance program through June 30, 2026,” Carter said. “So there’s a safety net to make sure that if something goes wrong, the case management team can say, ‘No, we are not returning to homelessness; we just need to find a different solution or make changes.’”
