SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - More than 100 homeless people will soon have a warm place to sleep at night. Thursday morning, the fourth bridge shelter opened its doors in East Village.
Each shelter focuses on a different group of the homeless population. The new shelter, located on 17th St and Imperial Ave., is specific to high-risk people including the disabled, elderly, or those with medical conditions.
“I can’t tell you in words, but it feels so good to get off this concrete,” says David Tharp, who has been living on the streets for the past three years.
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Friend, Darlene Clark, says it has been scary having no place to go. “Our backpacks aren’t going to be stolen. Our stuff is not going to be stolen. No one is going to attack us in the middle of the night.”
There will be a total of 128 beds offered at the shelter. Nearly 20 agencies will be on-site at times providing services to fit individual needs.
The city has now opened four shelters in the last two years, following the large Hepatitis A outbreak, bringing nearly 800 homeless people off the streets. The city says there are already plans in the works to open other locations.
