As workers hammered together metal bed frames to prepare for the city of San Diego's annual winter shelter program, Bob McElroy, speaking above the clanging din, said the face of homelessness is changing.
JOHN GIBBINS / Union-Tribune
Workers with the Alpha Project set up beds for the city shelter for single adults. The cavernous tent in downtown San Diego, which the Alpha Project will operate for the fourth winter, will provide beds, food, medical attention, job referrals and other services for up to 220 people.
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"It used to be that most of the homeless people we serve were free-range campers – people with drug or alcohol problems," said McElroy, whose Alpha Project will operate the city's shelter for single adults. "But the people we mostly will see don't have drug or alcohol problems. They're just poor."
McElroy said he expects nearly a third of the people who check into the shelter Wednesday morning will be displaced seniors who cannot afford the city's rents on their fixed incomes. Another segment will be people with disabilities, he said.
"About 50 percent of these people have some kind of income but they can't afford anything in downtown or anywhere else in San Diego," he said.
The shelter that Alpha Project will operate for the fourth winter under a city contract is downtown at 16th Street and Newton Avenue. It is a cavernous tent that will provide beds, food, medical attention, job referrals and other services for up to 220 single adults for free.
Also opening Wednesday morning is a city shelter for 150 homeless veterans in a tent in the 2800 block of Sports Arena Boulevard. That shelter is operated under a city contract by the Vietnam Veterans of San Diego.
Beginning at 6 p.m. Wednesday, up to 60 people in families can find shelter by reporting to the San Diego Rescue Mission, 120 Elm St., which is the entry point for homeless families.
Three shelters
The three shelters are part of the city's winter shelter program, the most comprehensive in the county, which has a budget of $590,000. Shelter will be provided from Wednesday through mid-March, although city officials are seeking an additional $95,000 to extend the program into April.
JOHN GIBBINS / Union-Tribune
Ricky Johnson (left) and Anthony Langstone assembled bunk beds at San Diego's winter shelter, one of three opening around the city Wednesday, where some people who are displaced live to save up money for rent during the rest of the year.
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Sharon Johnson, the city's homeless services administrator, said the lack of money for an extension is the program's only significant deficiency.
"Aside from that, we're in good shape," Johnson said.
Johnson said she does not anticipate having to provide shelter for Hurricane Katrina evacuees. If evacuees report to a shelter for services, the city will steer them to federal resettlement assistance, she said.
For some who live on the streets, the shelter stint is an opportunity to save enough money for rent.
Stanley Austin, 45, was among the Alpha Project employees assembling beds last week. The same time last year, he was preparing to bed down in the same shelter.
Austin slept in the shelter at night and worked 40 hours a week distributing advertisements. He saved his money and rented a modest hotel room downtown that he still occupies.
"It helped me to save enough money to stay off the streets," Austin said. "I hope I don't have to come back here, but I wouldn't be ashamed to come back if I had to."
An out-of-work roofer, Gary Stewart said he is preparing for a second winter in the shelter. Stewart, 57, said he rented a room with a friend after saving last year while in the city's program. But his friend is leaving and he does not have enough to cover the rent.
"I'll just save my money and do it all over again," Stewart said. "This time, I'll have my own place."
Homeless families, pregnant women, seniors and people with disabilities are the shelter program's priorities.
The county is collaborating with the city on a hotel-motel voucher that serves those most-vulnerable groups.
Last year, the program distributed 533 vouchers to individuals and families, including 72 families from San Diego. The county contributed $175,000 and the city contributed $50,000 for the voucher program last year.
But county program manager Yolanda Valdez said the county's contribution will be about $25,000 less this year because of budget cuts.
"We're trying to be more efficient and economical as we try to figure out how to serve more families with less money," Valdez said.
The county will again provide two social workers who will place families in housing and connect them to the services they need, Valdez said.
Anyone who is homeless and in need of shelter can dial 211 – the new name of the county's homeless assistance directory that used to be called Infoline.
Services elsewhere
Around the county, some cities are providing services while others are opting out.
El Cajon and La Mesa will again go without winter shelters this year.
"We've taken the lead so many times and our sister cities have let us do that," El Cajon Mayor Mark Lewis said. "We'd like to see them step up and help us out."
El Cajon has not offered a winter shelter program since 2002. Lewis said there are plenty of churches and social service programs offering shelter to El Cajon's homeless. And the city allocated $50,000 in federal grant money this fiscal year to Set Free Baptist Fellowship of San Diego for motel vouchers. The ministry runs a transitional housing center at the Fabulous 7 motel on East Main Street, where it also offers religious programs.
Based on numbers from last year, El Cajon Police Sgt. Tim Henton estimates that about 100 homeless people reside in the city. The count was conducted in one day by the Homeless Work Group, part of the El Cajon Collaborative, a coalition of social service agencies, government and churches. Henton, who is a member of the group, said a new count will be done in January. But he doesn't expect the numbers to change much.
La Mesa hasn't had a winter shelter for two years, said Mayor Art Madrid. But the city gave $5,000 to La Mesa First United Methodist Church this year to help find housing for the working poor.
"We don't have, to my knowledge, a huge number of residents who live in La Mesa who are having a difficult time with lodging," Madrid said.
In a recent study, the La Mesa Police Department determined that about 25 to 30 homeless people live in La Mesa year-round. An additional 50 to 60 may pass through or spend time in the city during a year, Lt. Allen White said.
Imperial Beach and Coronado do not have winter shelter programs.
Police Chief Paul Crook said Coronado relies on San Diego if someone is homeless.
"Anyone needing assistance is taken to San Diego shelters," Crook said. He indicated that such occasions are rare.
Imperial Beach City Manager Gary Brown said census information showed there were few homeless people in town.
"The handful of people in our community are not that big a problem to us," Brown said.
Both cities participate in the Interfaith Shelter Network, a program that offers the homeless rotating shelter services at various congregations around the county.
In the North County, Interfaith Community Services is hoping to open a shelter Dec. 15 to house and feed up to 44 homeless people at its headquarters on West Washington Avenue in Escondido. The shelter would be the only one in inland North County.
Interfaith officials have asked the cities of Escondido and San Marcos for financial assistance to help furnish and operate the shelter. The Escondido City Council may vote on the request Wednesday.
In Oceanside, the Bread of Life Rescue Mission opened its winter shelter yesterday. The mission, at 1919 Apple St., plans to operate the shelter nightly through April 15.
Operation Hope in Vista plans to open its shelter Dec. 15 at 123 W. Orange St. Operating hours will be from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. through March.
Ronald W. Powell: (619) 718-5070; ron.powell@uniontrib.com
Staff writers Janine Zúñiga, Liz Neely and Booyeon Lee contributed to this story.
