SAN DIEGO — Point Loma residents organized a meeting and invited organizations and community members to discuss solutions and alternative ideas to address San Diego’s homelessness crisis.
"How do you tell your kids it's okay to step over a dying person on the sidewalk?" said Larry Brown, who helped organize the meeting.
We heard from residents eager to find new solutions and people who work with the unhoused.
"We can solve the homeless problem in San Diego and I'm excited for that," Dr. Julie Hayden, with East County Transitional Living Center.
She says they offer one year programs to get people back on their feet.
"The stories we have of successes. People that didn't just get clean, sober and out of homelessness but became business owners, CEOs, leadership positions all over San Diego paving the way for a better society," she said.
She hopes this model can be used at Sunbreak Ranch.
"We need to step up and do something big here," said George Mullen, a leadership team member at Sunbreak Ranch.
Mullen described Sunbreak Ranch as a triage center that would immediately assess people to find their needs. He says the facility would provide shelter beds, detox and mental health services to thousands of people at time.
"There would be a large parking lot for those that want to drive in, a large area for those that want to pitch their own tent. Not trying to tell people what to do it's a voluntary facility," Mullen said.
They're eyeing a 70-acre site on Marine Corps Air Station Miramar or land in Otay Mesa to build the ranch. Mayoral candidate Larry Turner voiced his support during the meeting.
" I was working with Sunbreak for a long time before my current venture and that's kind of why I stepped into this world. I see a solution here," he said.
Former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer also shared enthusiasm.
"Sunbreak Ranch has my full support. I think we need more folks stand up and say how are we going to make this happen," he said.
There's still a long way to go. Mullen says they haven't gotten support from Mayor Todd Gloria and or gotten the full county Board of Supervisors on board with the idea. They say they need clearance from the military and may even need approval from the pentagon or President Joe Biden to build the ranch on Miramar.
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