Homeless set up tents in front of San Diego Central Library.
About the Downtown San Diego Registry Week
The Downtown Partnership’s Board of Directors and its Social Issues Committee have teamed up with the nationally renowned organization Common Ground and its 100,000 Homes Campaign to administer a survey and create a by-name registry of everyone experiencing homelessness on the streets downtown. Local partners in this effort include the United Way, the San Diego Housing Commission, the Centre City Development Corporation and several other organizations. The registry data is analyzed and broken down into sub-populations (veterans, medically fragile, seniors, youth) and then prioritized, matching those in the greatest need to housing. Our goal is to directly assist in getting the most vulnerable homeless individuals into permanent housing with necessary social services to support their individual needs.
The Regional Task Force on the Homeless’ 2010 Report indicates that more than 800 people are living on our streets downtown. Many believe that number is much higher now. We also believe that nearly 40% of those on the streets could be U.S military veterans. San Diegans are proud of our history as a military town and this is a sad situation that we need and intend to change in our community.
We are pleased that both the County and the City of San Diego are stepping forward to help along with our local office of the United States Veterans Administration and many of our nonprofit social service providers who are experts at working with the chronic homeless.
Our strength is in our partnerships and our clear focus to make a real difference in downtown San Diego. Our region has a Plan to End Chronic Homelessness, which was painstakingly prepared by the United Way in 2006. Our work will seek to implement that plan in one of the most impacted areas in the region – downtown San Diego.
During the week of September 19 we will be training almost 150 community members and civic leaders to go out before dawn on three consecutive days to survey and talk with homeless individuals. We will use what we learn from our data to identify the most vulnerable and help them get into housing in the weeks and months following our project.
*Download the Registry Week Information Packet
About the 100,000 Homes National Campaign
The 100,000 Homes Campaign brings together change agents from across the country to find homes for 100,000 of the most vulnerable and long-term homeless individuals and families by July 2013. It is designed to fundamentally alter our response to chronic homelessness by giving communities concrete tools and connecting the change agents with one another so no one has to innovate alone.
A vanguard of communities have been working together over the past year to prototype the “world’s best housing process.” This team has developed and refined the tools and techniques that will be made available to all participating communities. These tools fit into five major areas of systems change:
* Build a strong local campaign team and political will
* Clarify the demand
* Line-up the housing and support resources
* Move people into housing
* Help people stay housed
Learn More About 100,000 Homes National Campaign
Join the Downtown San Diego Registry Week team!
There are multiple opportunities and several ways to be part of the Downtown San Diego Registry Week. The project will take place over a six-day period from Sunday, September 19, 2010 through Friday, September 24, 2010.
During that week, we anticipate needing upwards of 150 volunteers, most of which will be needed to conduct the surveys with homeless individuals on the streets downtown. However, there are other vital roles to support our efforts.
- Volunteer Opportunities
- Sponsorship Opportunities
- Endorse the 100,000 Homes National Campaign and Downtown San Diego Registry Week
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