SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Part of the City of San Diego’s proposed budget for next year calls for a reduction of 50 beds at the Bridge Shelter for the unhoused at 16th and Newton in Downtown San Diego.
Advocates who want to keep the beds online held a press conference to push for them to remain online.
“At a time when shelter beds are full every single night, any type of discussion about reducing shelter capacity would not be wise at all,” Drew Moser, CEO of the Lucky Duck Foundation, said.
Those who operated and have benefited from the shelter say these beds are vital.
“I'm here to respectfully ask that the removal of the beds be reconsidered. Keeping these beds open will continue to save lives, support recovery,” a woman who benefited from the shelter said during a press conference.
“Over 1000 people have found housing, and we've got out of this site, and we all know there's no inventory of low-income housing, so that's always a challenge. But this is a place of healing, and I hate using the word shelter because this is a community,” Bob McElroy, CEO & President of Alpha Project, said.
It does say in the Office of Independent Budget Analyst’s report on the changes the city council has made to Mayor Todd Gloria’s proposed budget that the 50 beds for women would be replaced by an expansion from 50 to 210 shelter beds at Rachel’s Promise by mid-July.
“That's awesome. We applaud the city for it. That's great,” Moser said. “But doing that to then remove 50 beds here, even more beds here. You know, we call that activity, not achievement.”
The City of San Diego sent ABC 10News the following statement on the possible shelter bed reduction:
“The proposed 2027 budget looks at the entire City-funded shelter system and takes a strategic approach to our investments in addressing homelessness, directing funds to long-term solutions that have been effective. It is important to note that the Independent Budget Analyst's latest proposal [sandiego.gov] for homelessness funding in FY27 would ultimately add just over 200 total shelter beds to our system, which currently has approximately 2,600 sheltering options for individuals experiencing homelessness (including traditional shelter, Safe Sleeping Program and Safe Parking Program). Reducing homelessness remains a top priority. Despite one of the most challenging fiscal environments in years, the City continues to propose investing heavily in shelter, in addition to other critical homelessness services including outreach, prevention and diversion programs, and housing. The City appreciates the partnership with the Lucky Duck Foundation and looks forward to continuing discussions for future public-private partnerships to expand opportunities to serve our most vulnerable San Diegans.”
Advocates hope council members hear their concerns and choose to keep all of the options on the table.
“It's disheartening to me. I mean, I've always heard that we need more beds, and I'm hoping that the city council and the mayor will reconsider and keep the beds that we have,” McElroy said.
