ONE-STOP HOUSING AND SERVICE CENTER FOR HOMELESS SAN DIEGANS BECOMES REALITY WITH GRAND OPENING OF CONNECTIONS HOUSING DOWNTOWN
SAN DIEGO, CA – March 15, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — A unique approach to helping 223 homeless men and women escape homelessness has become a reality in downtown San Diego with the grand opening today of the city-sponsored Connections Housing Downtown, a year-round one-stop homeless housing and service center.
Connections Housing Downtown is a vital piece of the City of San Diego’s long-term strategy to ultimately end homelessness downtown and citywide. The result of collaboration among many organizations, including the San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC), Connections Housing Downtown combines 150 interim housing beds and 73 permanent studios with convenient access to multiple supportive services and a community health clinic under one roof.
“Working with the council and the council president and all the partners here, we are going to make sure that we meet the challenge—that we solve the problem of homelessness in a major city,” Mayor Bob Filner said.
SDHC contributed a $2 million loan toward the $38 million cost of renovating the 12-story former site of the historic San Diego Athletic Club at 1250 Sixth Ave. to create Connections Housing Downtown. Affirmed Housing Group and PATH (People Assisting the Homeless) were co-developers of the project.
SDHC has provided 89 federal housing vouchers to support the residential studios and 16 special needs emergency units. In addition, 50 federal housing vouchers will help formerly homeless individuals who have stabilized their lives and are ready to transition out of Connections Housing Downtown find housing in the community while they continue to receive supportive services from PATH.
“Connections Housing Downtown represents the creativity, innovation and teamwork needed to effectively resolve the issue of homelessness in San Diego,” said Richard C. Gentry, SDHC’s President and CEO. “The San Diego Housing Commission is one of the first housing agencies in the nation to use federal housing vouchers to make housing available for homeless individuals.”
Connections Housing Downtown provides new lives to many San Diegans, City Council President Todd Gloria said.
“This is a game-changer in the way we handle homelessness in this community,” Gloria said. “I personally believe San Diegans care about our homeless population 52 weeks a year, and that’s what this building says.”
One of the new residents of Connections Housing is a formerly homeless U.S. Army veteran, Myron Wiltz, 59, who moved into the permanent housing program on Feb. 25 with the help of a housing voucher provided by SDHC and funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“With the housing commission being able to lend a helping hand and make sure that things go properly for me and safely for me, I want to thank them because without their help, I would never have made it,” said Wiltz, who had been living on the streets for the past 11 years and recently graduated from trucking school.
SDHC has been a key leader in the process that brought Connections Housing Downtown to fruition. On Dec. 2, 2008, the San Diego City Council requested that SDHC collaborate with the former Centre City Development Corporation (now Civic San Diego) to issue the request for proposals for a permanent homeless services facility.
A nine-member volunteer citizens committee to review the proposals was organized on April 3, 2009 by SDHC and Centre City Development Corporation. The volunteer citizens committee members represented:
