By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Councilman Gary Kendrick with his late dog, Ocho.

November 15, 2023 (El Cajon)—By a unanimous vote,  El Cajon City Council members approved allocating $30,000 for the Humane Society to provide shelter for dogs belonging to homeless people for up to 30 days, providing the person enters a program for the homeless. The individual can choose any homeless program, in El Cajon or elsewhere, to help them get off the streets.  The measure also funds up to $2,000 in veterinary care per pet.

“It’s removing one more barrier to getting people off the street,” says Councilman Gary Kendrick, who introduced the measure, noting that local homeless shelters won’t accept pets.  “A lot are saying, `I don’t want to lose my dog, so I won’t go into a program.”

The homeless person can retrieve their dog from the Humane Society after they complete a program in 30 days, or sooner if they choose.  “They can leave the program and get their dog bag at any time,” assures Kendrick, a dog owner.

East County News Service

March 19, 2023 (Lakeside) – Reflections Day Spa invites you to its 7^th annual Haircuts for the Homeless event on Sunday, April 2 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Donations of items to help the homeless are sought, including sleeping bags, blankets, tents, socks, jackets, beanies and toiletries.

Reflections Day Spa is located at 9909 Maine Ave., Lakeside, CA 92040.  Questions? Call (619) 334-2240.

By Matthew Manosh and Miriam Raftery

Photo: Outreach team members  speak with homeless person in local park

Hear audio of full forum

May 22, 2022 (Lemon Grove) – The 2022 Point in Time Count of homeless people reveals some shocking statistics. While countywide the rate rose 10% from January 2020 to January 2022, in San Diego’s unincorporated areas the number was up 540.7% to a total of 173 individuals.  The numbers also soared in several East County communities including Lemon Grove (up 72.2% to 31 individuals), El Cajon (up 68.8% to 1,308 people, though most are in shelters), and Santee (up 488% to 147), Lakeside (up 162.5% to 63 people).  Some communities fared better; Spring Valley had 38.1% fewer homeless people (60) and La Mesa held relatively steady, up just 1.9%, and Alpine had just one person homeless person identified.

County ramps up efforts

“Your county is committed…like it has never been before,” Nathan Fletcher, Chairman of the County Board of Supervisors, said at a recent forum on homelessness at the Lemon Grove Library on hosted by the East County Homeless Task Force and Thrive Lemon Grove. “There is not a zip code or a community anywhere in San Diego that is not impacted by homelessness.”  

Fletcher outlined plans to help both the homeless and communities, asking support from residents, which are detailed below. Other panelists also addressed new efforts to reduce homelessness in East County.

Source: County News Service

November 13, 2021 (San Diego) – The County of San Diego has announced four new shigella cases, bringing the current outbreak to 35 confirmed and 3 probably cases, all among people experiencing homelessness.  No source has yet been identified.

Story and photos by Miriam Raftery

File photo: cart at a homeless camp in Spring Valley

Updated with information on additional actions La Mesa has taken in the past week and will consider this week to help its homeless residents.

View background report provided to council members

September 17, 2020 (La Mesa) – The state and county want to convert a Holiday Inn in La Mesa to provide 139 units of transitional housing for the homeless and those at risk of becoming homeless due to COVID-19.  Supervisors initially approved an application to the state for the “Homekey” project on Sept. 15 with no prior notification to the city of La Mesa, residents or businesses nearby. 

By Miriam Raftery

Photos: Screenshots, NBC7: an emergency sleeping cabin in City Heights built by Amikas

July 15, 2020 (El Cajon) – Last year, the nonprofit Amikas built an emergency sleeping cabin as a demonstration project at a church in El Cajon. The group hopes to win city approval to allow similar units to be used to temporarily house homeless people, particularly women, including women veterans, amid the COVID-19 pandemic when local shelter space in East County is insufficient.

By Miriam Raftery

“It’s very likely that we won’t be able to provide the same level of service that we do today….The County has no walk-in services for the homeless, and pretty soon that’s going to be the way it will be in El Cajon.” – Mary Case, Executive Director at Crisis House (photo, left)

June 25, 2020 (El Cajon) – El Cajon’s City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve an early lease termination agreement to oust Crisis House from city-owned property at 1034 Magnolia Ave. For the past 26 years, the city has leased the property to Crisis House for a dollar a year, recognizing the value to the community of the services provided by Crisis House, which has a mission to “break the cycle of poverty, domestic violence and homelessness and strengthen families and individuals so that they can thrive and transform their lives.”

The city wants Crisis House gone from is current location near the new Hampton Inn hotel.  So the Council-approved measure offers Crisis House $700,000 if it vacates the property by September 30^th. That amount diminishes to just $350,000 by year’s end and $150,000 by March 31, or zero if Crisis house remains until the lease expires on June 30, 2021.

But Mary Case, Executive Director of Crisis House, says that’s not enough time to find an affordable space, adding that the action will almost certainly mean major cuts in services.

By José A. Álvarez, County of San Diego Communications Office

January 28, 2020 (San Diego) -- The County Board of Supervisors today voted to adopt several measures, including sheltering options and expanded outreach teams, to deal with homelessness in unincorporated communities.

The measures, brought forward by Supervisors Dianne Jacob and Jim Desmond, are expected to help with homelessness in unincorporated areas that have seen a significant increase of people who don’t have a place to live. Recent encampments at Lamar Park, Spring Valley Park and in other outlying areas are the latest reminders that homelessness is a regional crisis.

“Like in the city of San Diego and the rest of California, homelessness has become a huge concern in the suburban and rural parts of our region,” said District 2 Supervisor Dianne Jacob, who represents East County. “Today’s board vote opens the door to creating a comprehensive approach to homelessness that includes immediate and long-range measures.”

By Matt Levin and Jackie Botts, CalMatters

 Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, left, and Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, who are leading Newsom's task force, have been pushing for some legal leverage to force action on homelessness. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters

January 13, 2020 (Sacramento) -- Recommendations by Gov. Gavin Newsom's task force on homelessness in California propose a legally enforceable 'mandate to end homelessness' on the November ballot, echo the governor's request for more funding and call for a homelessness czar. 

Declaring that moral persuasion and economic incentives aren’t working to bring people in from the sidewalks, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s task force on homelessness called Monday for a “legally enforceable mandate” that would force municipalities and the state to house the growing number of homeless Californians.

By Miriam Raftery

January 2, 2020 (Washington D.C.) –The U.S. Supreme Court declined last month to hear an appeal of a ruling by the 9^th Circuit U.S. District Court of Appeals, which held that cities and counties cannot arrest homeless people for sleeping in outdoor public spaces if a jurisdiction has failed to provide space in shelters.

San Diego County and dozens of other local governments had joined together to argue that the case should be overturned, arguing that the decision limits cities’ abilities to maintain public health and safety. In San Diego, a 2017 hepatitis-A outbreak was tied to homelessness.

But the 9^th circuit held that a city ordinance banning camping in public places by the homeless “violates the 8^th Amendment insofar as it imposes criminal sanctions against homeless individuals for sleeping outdoors on public property, when no alternative is available to them.”

San Diego had more than 8,100 people homeless countywide as of a January 1, 2019 count, but 27,850 people used homeless services countywide last year, Voice of San Diego reports. California, which has one of the best year-round climates, is home to around half of the nation’s homeless population.

Update May 15, 2019: The San Diego City Council has voted to approve the new vehicle habitation ordinance.

By Miriam Raftery

May 13, 2019 (San Diego) – After a federal judge found San Diego’s vehicle habitation ordinance unconstitutional and issued an injunction to halt its enforcement of the ban on sleeping in vehicles, a new ordinance backed by Mayor Kevin Faulconer has been passed 3-1 by a committee and forwarded to the full city council, where a vote is expected on Tuesday, May 14 at 2 p.m.  

East County News Service

Photo:  (from left to right) Tracy Morgan Hollingworth, Joe Mackey, Robert Calloway, Kay LeMenager, Carol Lewis, Anna Marie Piconi Snyder.

April 26, 2019 (El Cajon) – The Pacific Southwest Association of Realtors (PSAR), a real estate trade group for San Diego-area realtors, recently presented a $5,000 check to the San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce Foundation to help pay for a website featuring resources to assist homeless people in the East County.

East County News Service

March 20, 2019 (La Mesa) - The City of La Mesa is seeking volunteers for an ad hoc citizen committee on homelessness.  If you're passionate about homeless issues and want to make a positive difference in the community, you are encouraged to sign up.

By José A. Álvarez, County of San Diego Communications Office

February 12, 2019 (San Diego) - The County Board of Supervisors today voted to allow the Health and Human Services Agency to apply for and receive about $125 million to help people with serious mental illness and who are homeless or at risk of losing their home.