SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KGTV) — Flood assistance is pouring in from groups across San Diego, and portions of the aid are being used to help house flood victims. But the process of getting that help can be tricky.
Perhaps nobody wants it to stop raining more than Rene Garcia. Garcia hasn't been able to stay in his house in Shelltown for more than two weeks. It flooded during the Jan. 22 storms.
As he was gathering materials to clean up his home on Tuesday, Mother Nature brought more rain and more flooding.
"It's pretty scary, man. As you can see, my house is already kind of flooded right now."
Garcia is thankful he's not staying at his home. He's living at a Motel 6 in National City.
He got help from the San Diego County Office of Education, who gave him a 10-day hotel voucher. It's been extended for another 10 days.
"If it wasn't for their assistance, I would probably be sleeping with the mold," he says.
The County Office of Education gave the voucher to Garcia because he has a student enrolled at a public school.
"We started to receive an unprecedented number of those requests for those rooms," Susie Terry, with the Homeless Education Services division of the County Office of Education said.
"We already had a program in place where we could assist a family with a need of an emergency hotel stay," Terry said. "We were doing anywhere from three to nine or 10 requests a day at that time."
The number of families needing help has ballooned since the January storm. "As of Friday, it was 210 families," Terry added.
Terry says if students, or parents of students, need a housing voucher, they should get in contact with the homeless liaison in the child's school. Each public or charter school in the county should have a homeless liaison.
The program is called Project Rest, and money for it comes from the American Rescue Plan. But Project Rest is just one of the initiatives to surface.
Last week, the San Diego Housing Commission opened the doors to a hotel in the Midway that will help provide short-term emergency shelter.
The San Diego Foundation gave the YMCA $190,000 to provide housing vouchers for more than 400 people for up to 14 days. The foundation said Tuesday it has since run out of vouchers.
A representative from San Diego County told ABC 10News it anticipates launching a short-term housing program next week, which will provide temporary housing for up to 30-day stays. The representative added the county "has been working to create an Emergency Temporary Lodging program since the Board of Supervisors on Jan. 30 allocated $10 million to support individuals and families displaced by the Jan. 22 storm."
For Garcia, his second voucher expires soon. While he's grateful for the hotel housing, he's praying it will get extended again. He doesn't have a backup plan, he says.
"Most likely I'll be back (at his Shelltown home) sleeping with the mold, keeping it company," he said. "But it's better than being on the streets."
Scroll below for a list of resources:
- 211 San Diego, https://211sandiego.org/
- Alpha Project, https://www.alphaproject.org/housing
- Crisis House, https://www.crisishouse.org/
- Door of Hope, https://doorofhope.salvationarmy.org/
- San Diego Housing Commission, https://www.sdrescue.org/
- YWCA, https://www.ywcasandiego.org/
- More on: https://sites.google.com/sandi.net/cyt/resources/for-students-and-families
General shelter information due to weather from City of San Diego:
- Father Joe’s Villages Shelter, 1501 Imperial Ave San Diego, CA 92101
- San Diego Rescue Mission, 120 Elm Street San Diego, CA 92101
- Joan Kroc Center, 1501 Imperial Avenue San Diego, CA 92101
- Paul Mirabile Center, 1501 Imperial Avenue San Diego, CA 92101
