News Release: Ci Ty of San ', ( 2 6em Ergency Wi Nter Shelter Opens Today For M Ore Than 200 M en and Wom en
The City of San Diego's Emergency Winter Shelter for homeless adults opens today, providing over 220 beds for men and women to stay warm. The shelter, located at 16th Street and Newton Avenue, will be administered by the San Diego Housing Commission and operated by Alpha Project. It offers health services and counseling in addition to shelter. Last year over 730 people were served by the shelter from November to April. The shelter aims to temporarily house homeless individuals until the new Connections Housing Downtown permanent facility opens next year.
News Release: Ci Ty of San ', ( 2 6em Ergency Wi Nter Shelter Opens Today For M Ore Than 200 M en and Wom en
The City of San Diego's Emergency Winter Shelter for homeless adults opens today, providing over 220 beds for men and women to stay warm. The shelter, located at 16th Street and Newton Avenue, will be administered by the San Diego Housing Commission and operated by Alpha Project. It offers health services and counseling in addition to shelter. Last year over 730 people were served by the shelter from November to April. The shelter aims to temporarily house homeless individuals until the new Connections Housing Downtown permanent facility opens next year.
San Diego Housing Commission administers program, operated by the Alpha Project at 16 th Street and Newton Avenue
San Diego, CAMore than 200 homeless men and women will be out of the cold, having found a warm place to sleep at the City oI San Diego`s Downtown Emergency Winter Shelter for homeless adults. The shelter opens today at 16 th and Newton Avenue located on a cul-de-sac.
In addition to the 220 beds, the shelter also offers health care, mental health and substance abuse counseling. Last year, more than 730 men and women were served Irom the shelter`s opening November 21, 2011, through April 2, 2012.
The San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC) is administering the temporary shelter for the third consecutive year under a 2010 agreement with the city, while Alpha Project handles the shelter`s day-to-day operations.
'We appreciate the City of San Diego taking action to open the emergency winter shelter this year while the year-round housing and services facility Connections Housing Downton begins to set up operations in January, said Richard C. Gentry, SDHC President & CEO. 'We are also grateful to Alpha Project and our other partners who are coming together to operate the shelter and provide resources for homeless men and women, and to UnitedHealthcare for their recent generous donation of $250,000, which will go toward the costs of the emergency winter shelter.
On July 23, 2012, the San Diego City Council approved SDHC`s proposal to administer the downtown emergency winter shelter for 2012-13 winter season as a transition to the opening of Connections Housing Downtown when it became clear this summer the permanent one-stop homeless service center would not be ready in time to open this year.
'I would like to give special thanks to our San Diego City Council and the San Diego Housing Commission for their forward thinking in making the emergency winter shelter possible, as we all prepare to move into Connections Housing Downtown next year, said Bob McElroy the President and CEO of Alpha Project.
Budget for the City`s Emergency Winter Shelter for Adults 2012-13:
x Operations: $402,000 x Shelter construction: $95,152 x Contingency: $40,000
News Release November 23, 2012
Media Contact: Maria Velasquez, Vice President Community Relations & Communications 619-578-7560 [email protected]
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On Monday, UnitedHealthcare presented a $250,000 donation to SDHC to support this year`s emergency winter shelter program.
UnitedHealthcare already is connected to addressing homeless issues in San Diego. They have provided $15.1 million in federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit Equity to help build Connections Housing Downtown. The facility is under construction at 1250 Sixth Avenue.
Affirmed Housing Group, an affordable housing developer and co-developer of Connections Housing Downtown, reached out to UnitedHealthcare to request the grant. UnitedHealthcare also worked with AIIirmed Housing Group`s investment partner, Enterprise Community Investment, Inc., to provide the donation.
The City of San Diego has implemented an emergency winter shelter program for adults every winter since 1987 to assist the homeless during the year`s coldest and wettest months.
SDHC also administers the City oI San Diego`s Homeless Veteran`s Emergency Winter Shelter, located in the Midway district at the U.S. Navy SPAWAR facility on 2801 Sports Arena Blvd. The 150-bed shelter, operated by Veterans Village of San Diego, will open in December.
SDHC Housing Innovations Department oversees the homeless initiatives for the agency. For more information, visit www.sdhc.org.