SAN DIEGO — City and county leaders gathered Tuesday morning to mark the beginning of construction on a new low-barrier shelter in the Midway neighborhood that will be able to serve up-to 150 unsheltered individuals.
The County of San Diego, City of San Diego, San Diego Housing Commission and the Lucky Duck Foundation partnered together to open the new tent shelter.
The Lucky Duck Foundation donated the use of the tent, the County of San Diego provided the land adjacent to the psychiatric hospital and will also provide behavioral health and sufficiency services, while the City of San Diego and San Diego Housing Commission are providing the shelter operations and other services.
Just two weeks ago, the Regional Task Force on Homelessness revealed that homelessness in San Diego has spike 10 percent since 2020. The count was a one-day snapshot of the minimum number of San Diegans living in emergency shelters, transitional housing, safe havens and on streets and along riverbeds.
The count found 8,427 people experiencing homelessness across San Diego County, a minimum number. This number included 4,106 unsheltered San Diegans, with 4,321 individuals in shelters. Of those surveyed, 85% said they had fallen into homelessness while living in the region.
The PITC was conducted this year in February by more than 1,400 volunteers across the county. It was the first such count since January 2020, before the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent increase in shelter options.
WATCH RELATED: Homeless crisis in San Diego | One-on-One with Mayor Todd Gloria