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OCEANSIDE, Calif. — The City of Oceanside received $3.2 million from San Diego County to help address homelessness — it’s the third city in the county to take advantage of $10 million from a county grant program.
Oceanside officials are going to turn an old alternative school into a homeless navigation center. The $6.7 million project needed the big boost from the county, according to the city’s mayor Esther Sanchez.
Sanchez says the $3.2 million from the county grant program “came at the right time.”
The nonprofit San Diego Rescue Mission will run the facility. The center will have 50 beds and support services such as meals, showers, job training, mental and medical care, a lounge area with computers and televisions. Plus, there will be case managers to work on individual cases.
“Lives are going to be changed here because people living on the streets are actually going to have a place to go to really get help” said Donnie Dee, the CEO and president for San Diego Rescue Mission.
People can stay up to 30 days, three times a year. Oceanside is one of three cities using the $10 million from a county grant program.
The City of Vista received $65,000 for a safe parking program. The city of San Diego also received $1,030,543 for a safe parking program.
Nathan Fletcher, San Diego County supervisor chair, says that the county needs “every city in San Diego to step up and be a partner, to have more facilities, parking, shelters, get them off the streets and start repairing their lives.”
The county still has $5 million left to help cities with infrastructure costs to get homeless services up and running, according to Fletcher.
“Complaining about homelessness is easy, tackling and getting people off the streets is hard,” Fletcher said. “We are tired of the excuses, we need folks to step and get it done.”
County leaders have said it’s a task that is going to take everybody.
“It’s the public and the private, it’s us working together on behalf of the person that needs the most,” Dee said.
Sanchez said the center will open early 2023. The center will not be a walk-in facility. People will need to be referred to by Oceanside Police Homeless Outreach Team or a social worker.
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