Housing First – San Diego

HOUSING FIRST – SAN DIEGO: 2014-2017

The programs of the first three years of HOUSING FIRST – SAN DIEGO, which was launched on November 12, 2014, created more than 2,700 housing solutions for San Diegans experiencing homelessness—Veterans, families and individuals in the City of San Diego—which far exceeds the initial goal of 1,500 San Diegans experiencing homelessness:

• Award Development Funds – Up to $30 Million ($10 million per year): Awarded $28.9 million toward the creation of 382 permanent supportive housing units.
• Commit up to 1,500 Federal Rental Housing Vouchers: Committed 1,980 rental housing vouchers to nonprofit agencies and affordable housing developments to assist homeless San Diegans.
• Renovate Hotel Churchill: Created 72 units of permanent supportive housing, including 56 for homeless Veterans; 8 for transitional age youth, ages 18-25; and 8 for adults exiting the corrections system. SDHC invested $9.2 million in Moving to Work (MTW) funds toward the $20.6 million total rehabilitation cost. Grand Reopening took place September 19, 2016.
• Invest MTW Federal Funds to Acquire Property: Invested $15 million in MTW funds to purchase the 120-unit Village North Senior Garden Apartments on May 1, 2015, and set aside 44 rental apartments, or 36 percent, for homeless seniors.
• Dedicate SDHC-owned Housing Units: Committed 25 SDHC-owned housing units year-round for rapid rehousing for homeless San Diegans.
• The Guardian Scholars Program: Provide rental assistance for up to 100 San Diego State University (SDSU) students who have been homeless or at risk of homelessness. Click here to watch a Guardian Scholar’s story
• The Monarch School Project: Provide rental housing vouchers for up to 25 families who have at least one child enrolled at the Monarch School, one of the few schools in the nation specifically serving homeless children; this is also an SDHC MTW initiative. Click here to watch a Monarch School Project story. Click here to watch a Monarch School Project story
• Housing Our Heroes: Provide housing opportunities for 1,000 Veterans experiencing homelessness in the City of San Diego. On September 28, 2017, the Housing Our Heroes initiative reach its goal of helping 1,000 homeless Veterans in the City of San Diego secure rental housing, with 435 individual landlords joining the initiative.

Data Collection & Privacy

SDHC’s HOUSING FIRST – SAN DIEGO homeless service programs use Clarity to collect client-level data including but not limited to demographics, services, housing, assessments, employment, and income.  Clarity is the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) approved and managed by the Regional Task Force on Homelessness (RTFH) for the San Diego Continuum of Care (CoC). The HMIS may only be accessed by persons affiliated with organizations that have agreed to participate in HMIS and joined the HMIS Trust Network.

SDHC has adopted the RTFH HMIS Privacy and Security Policies for all homeless service programs:

• RTFH’s HMIS Policies & Procedures
• HMIS Notice of Privacy Practices
• HMIS Mandatory Data Collection Notice

This project is funded in whole or in part by one or more Emergency Solutions Grants provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to the City of San Diego.