Encinitas will contract with the San Diego Rescue Mission to provide two homeless outreach workers and a housing navigator who will help people stop living on the streets.
In a unanimous vote Wednesday, the City Council approved an agreement that pays the regional nonprofit organization up to $344,000 during the current fiscal year, which runs through June 30. In exchange, the organization will provide three full-time workers to handle homelessness issues. The new contract allows for up to five, one-year extensions.
“I couldn’t be more excited to have San Diego Rescue Mission be a part of this,” Councilmember Luke Shaffer said, mentioning that the organization doesn’t accept government grants and requires its clients to be sober.
Established in 1955, the rescue mission operates temporary housing shelters across the San Diego County region, and serves “thousands of men, women and children each year through no-cost, Christ-centered programs designed to help people stay off the streets permanently,” its web site states.
The two, new outreach workers will connect with homeless people on the streets and direct them toward various services, with goal of reaching up to 80 people, city planning manager Patty Anders said. The housing “navigator” will help people with the complicated process of filling out housing applications and seeking financial assistance, she said.
Much of the funding for the new effort will come from the state through opioid lawsuit settlements, a city staff report indicates. Encinitas is expecting to receive $1.3 million over a 13-year period from those settlements, it adds.
Encinitas previously hired two city employees to conduct homeless services, but those people left their jobs earlier this year and the city has since shifted staffing priorities, City Manager Jennifer Campbell said.
Before council members voted Wednesday, they heard from a half dozen speakers who all supported awarding the contract to the Rescue Mission. Several said they wanted substantial data later on how many people were served by the program, and one person said she was glad the city was re-starting its homeless services after the multi-month gap that ocurred when the former city employees left their positions.
Paul Armstrong, the Rescue Mission’s chief of staff, told the council that his organization will be providing monthly reports as well as quarterly ones, and will track clients using a “by name” list.
“We’re super excited (to have the contract). Thank you for the opportunity,” he said.