A homeless man sleeps below the entrance to the Ocean Beach Pier. Photo by Chris Stone
Mayor Todd Gloria and Board of Supervisors Chair Nathan Fletcher Wednesday announced that the state has awarded $11.83 million from Governor Gavin Newsom’s Project Homekey program to help finance the development of 40 new homes for San Diegans experiencing chronic homelessness.
The award will be used to help build PATH Villas El Cerrito, a partnership between PATH Ventures, Family Health Centers of San Diego and Bold Communities.
“What solves chronic homelessness is housing with supportive services, and this award from the state’s Project Homekey will help us build 40 more of these critically needed homes,” Gloria said. “This is possible because Governor Gavin Newsom understands that ending homelessness is job number one in California.”
The project location is at 5476 El Cajon Boulevard in El Cerrito, part of Fletcher’s Supervisorial District 4 and City Council District 9, represented by Council President Sean Elo-Rivera.
The building will comprise five levels of apartments that will sit directly above a ground-floor integrated health and physical rehabilitation clinic to be operated by Family Health Centers. It would include five studio apartments, 17 one-bedroom apartments, 18 two-bedroom apartments and one manager’s unit — all of them modular units.
The onsite clinic will offer preventative and medical care, mental health care, outpatient substance-use treatment, dental care and other supportive services. The development will also include a dog park and a business center to aid with job searches, according to the mayor’s office.
In April, the county Board of Supervisors voted to allocate approximately $11 million to the development for capital and a portion of future services and operating costs. The city will provide more than $2 million from its share of funding from the state Permanent Local Housing Allocation program. Nearly $3 million needed to complete the financing will come from loan funding.
The city of San Diego, through the San Diego Housing Commission, will also provide 40 project-based housing vouchers to help pay rent for the residents who previously experienced homelessness.