SAN DIEGO — The City of San Diego recently opened its first safe sleeping site, aiming to provide a secure place for individuals experiencing homelessness.
Mayor Todd Gloria touted the benefits of the new facility during a tour with reporters, but now, after a week of operation, residents staying at the site are expressing their dissatisfaction, claiming that the city has failed to deliver on its promises.
William Mulligan, one of the initial residents of the safe sleep site, appreciates the city's efforts to create a safe space for the homeless population and he wasn’t alone.
"Yeah, I do feel a lot safer than I did out where I was,” said Roisa Cade. “I mean, I literally feel safer."
However, as time goes on, William says it has become apparent that the city was not adequately prepared for the site's opening.
He shared several glaring issues, including the absence of showers, laundry facilities, and proper bathroom maintenance. "They're building the plane as they're flying it," he said.
William is also disappointed with the city providing minimal counseling services to help residents improve their situations.
Despite this, he commends the nonprofit organization Dreams for Change for their work running the site under challenging circumstances.
The safe sleeping site initially accommodated 10 residents, and it has since grown to house 19 individuals in 13 tents.
The city plans to expand the facility to accommodate up to 136 tents.
In response to the concerns raised by William, Rachel Laing, the City's Director of Communications issued a statement to CBS 8, saying in part, “Understand that the plan was always to ramp up slowly to work out any issues since this is a brand-new program. We do have bathrooms and handwashing stations, a shaded common area and meals. Mobile showers come to the site, and people also can be transported to offsite showers at one of our other shelters. Laundry is offsite but accessible to the clients.”
William, a long-time North Park resident, found himself on the streets due to injuries sustained in a car accident combined with the impact of the pandemic.
Despite the challenges, he remains hopeful that the situation will improve at the new shelter and provide him with the stability to improve his housing situation. "I have to have a background check to haul hazardous materials and those sorts of things, and I can't get that living at the corner of walk and don't walk cause they won't accept a P.O. Box,” he said. “You have to have these things in place."