Mayor of San José Tours San Diego Safe Sleeping Sites In Preparation for Local Implementation
Mayor Matt Mahan joined San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria to see successful models of safe sleeping sites in California
Assets from Mayor Mahan’s safe sleeping tour are available here.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 12, 2024
Media Contact:
Tasha Dean, Chief Communications Officer, Office of Mayor Matt Mahan; [email protected]
SAN JOSÉ, CA - Today, San José Mayor Matt Mahan toured one of the City of San Diego’s safe sleeping sites, O Lot, guided by San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria. The site, which opened its doors in October of 2023, contains 400 raised, insulated tents and provides on-site amenities and services, including meals, restrooms, showers, laundry, storage trailers, case management, basic needs assistance and resource referrals.
“It’s heartening to see the scale at which San Diego is offering safe, managed alternatives to the encampments that have plagued all big cities in California for far too long,” said Mayor Matt Mahan. “San Jose will continue to embrace more cost-effective and immediate solutions for ending the era of encampments — including creating capacity to serve over 500 people in Safe Sleeping Sites over the next year. We’re learning what’s working and what’s not to give us the best possible chance at helping those suffering on our streets and the entire community who lives with the ramifications of unsheltered homelessness each and every day.”
While the City of San José achieved a 10% reduction in unsheltered homelessness thanks to investments into scalable, rapid solutions like interim housing and safe parking sites, there are still 4,411 people experiencing unsheltered homelessness per the 2023 Santa Clara County Point-in-Time (PIT) count. The magnitude of this crisis has affected the health of City waterways, which led to the Council to explore safe sleeping sites in this year’s budget, adding the capacity to move 500 individuals out of the creeks.
San Diego currently runs two safe sleeping sites — O Lot and 20th and B street. Together, the two sites support 533 tents and provide San Diego’s unhoused population a safe space to get back on their feet and connected to services. Like San Jose’s Interim Housing Communities, San Diego’s Safe Sleeping Sites have waitlists hundreds of people long who want and need a basic, dignified place as an alternative to the streets.
“Our Safe Sleeping sites have proven to be a successful and innovative option for getting people experiencing homelessness off the streets and connected to care," said Mayor Todd Gloria. "It was an honor to show Mayor Mahan how these low-barrier sites are working in San Diego, and I hope they continue to serve as a model for effective solutions to help vulnerable residents find stability and a path to permanent housing.”
Mayor Mahan’s visit comes after a unanimous vote from the San José City Council in June to analyze the feasibility of eight safe sleeping sites for the city’s unhoused population. While touring the site, Mayor Mahan was introduced to service providers, participants and health care professionals who ensure the site has the tools required to serve the unhoused population who call it home.
Like San Diego, San José’s safe sleeping sites will be one option in a menu of placements for the city’s most vulnerable residents. This year’s budget also prioritized investments in the interim housing pipeline to bring 628 additional tiny homes online before July 2025. Safe sleeping sites, paired with interim housing, safe parking and upstream-prevention will address the homelessness crisis head on — getting unhoused individuals out of unsafe, unmanaged encampments and reclaiming shared public spaces for all.
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About the City of San José
With nearly one million residents, San José is the largest city in the Bay Area and one of the nation's most diverse and creative. San José’s transformation into a global innovation center in the heart of Silicon Valley has resulted in the world's greatest concentration of technology talent and development.