With more homeless youth on streets, San Diego opens larger shelter to serve them
A San Diego-area shelter that opened in File photo courtesy of MayorTodd Gloria s office Local leaders Friday released that a shelter activity serving young adults in downtown San Diego has doubled its maximum The city-funded Safe Shelter for Transition-Age Youth or Safe STAY scheme has served people ages - across two interim sites The new site though can serve transition-age youth while replacing the interim sites In partnership with theSDHC and LGBTCenter we are opening a new shelter for LGBTQ transition-aged youth Every young person deserves stability dignity and hope This shelter will provide these homeless youth a safe place to be and access to critical services ForAllofUs pic twitter com i pmMFUeb San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria MayorToddGloria April Without a assistance system or financial stability too multiple of San Diego s young people are ending up on the streets Rep Scott Peters D-San Diego announced This permanent youth shelter will provide a safe space where they will be protected respected and offered the help they need including services for LGBTQ youth The shelter could serve residents in as little as two weeks Peters secured million for the facility allowing it to be configured for semi-congregate housing That means those who stay there will have more privacy than at traditional shelters By expanding the Safe STAY undertaking we are giving struggling young San Diegans the sponsorship they need to build a better future noted Mayor Todd Gloria According to figures from the Regional Task Force on Homelessness collected at the annual census of the county s homeless population the number of transition-age youth counted rose to from to The San Diego Housing Commission contracts with the San Diego LGBT Area Center to operate the Safe STAY effort in partnership with San Diego Youth Services and the YMCA of San Diego County The Safe STAY undertaking includes circumstance management transportation and basic demands assistance and employment endorsement The activity also connects young adults to behavioral and mental vitality care and teaching Vulnerable youth come to us in survival mode and they leave with the care and the support to dream to grow and to thrive announced the LGBT center CEO Cara Dessert Construction on the new site was completed in about seven months It includes residential restrooms with showers a locality area with a kitchenette dining area laundry space and lobby and staff office spaces The annual operating budget for the Safe STAY venture is approximately million
