On Monday morning, the mayor of San Jose entered an empty tent in San Diego.
Matt Mahan paused a moment, admiring that he could stand up inside, then laid down on a cot.
Back home in Northern California, there were around 1,000 people in encampments by waterways that officials wanted to move. Mahan had come to believe that creating alternative campsites offered at least a partial solution.
As growing homelessness strains shelter systems around the country, a number of cities are considering their own designated camping areas. Mahan’s tour of O Lot, San Diego’s second safe sleeping site, followed visits from officials in Los Angeles, Sacramento and Phoenix, according to Mayor Todd Gloria.
The outside interest comes as local leaders consider adding tents to San Diego’s two camping areas, both of which are near Balboa Park, since the city’s set to lose access to more than 700 shelter beds by January.
“I think that the success of these sites warrant that expansion,” Gloria told reporters after the tour.
The approach has divided advocates for people experiencing homelessness.
The federal government doesn’t consider legal camping to be “shelter,” and critics say a wealthy city in a rich nation should have something better to offer. Some residents have raised concerns about food quality and mold that once grew on wooden pallets beneath the tents. Dozens of people at O Lot got sick earlier this year — investigators remain unsure as to why — and the 20th and B site has been repeatedly evacuated during heavy rains.
As the mayors walked across the dirt lots Monday, Gloria said he’d been similarly skeptical when the idea was first floated.
But he and other proponents ultimately decided that safe sleeping, which some homeless people have long asked for, was at least better than life on the streets. Security guards sit by entrances. Portable toilets are clustered near plastic sinks. The showers looked clean, washers and dryers were in use and a whiteboard advertised what medical providers were coming the next day.
“I wish the safe sleeping had been here when I was homeless,” said Angel Alameri, 38, a Dreams for Change case worker who lived outside on and off for more than two decades.
O Lot’s approximately 400 tents sit on three levels cut into a hillside. The Downtown San Diego Partnership runs the top tier while Dreams for Change oversees the bottom two, including one for people with mental illnesses or health conditions that require extra check-ins.
There was little movement on any level during Monday’s tour.
A half-dozen residents sat in the shade under a canopy, waiting for a shuttle. A panting pit bull pulled at its leash. A few people walked toward the Balboa Park Activity Center, an air-conditioned gym that serves as one of the city’s designated “cool zones.”
“Woo,” Mahan exclaimed when he eventually left the empty tent. “Gettin’ warm in there.”
He surveyed the faded tents around him. “I’m especially impressed with the scale,” Mahan said. (San Jose has budgeted for up to 500 spots, although they’ll probably be spread across several locations.) The mayor also liked that some O Lot residents had been hired for on-site jobs.
Another draw: Pets are allowed. O Lot currently hosts 65 dogs, 42 cats, one bird and a guinea pig, said Karina Santos, program manager with Dreams for Change. A resulting complication: Six litters have so far been born.
Officials had discussed designating one area for residents trying to stay sober, but Teresa Smith, Dreams for Change’s CEO, said that proved impractical without turning away large numbers of other people asking for spots.
As it stands, drug and alcohol use is banned on-site and a single violation is normally enough to get somebody kicked out. Staffers carry Narcan, a nasal spray that can reverse an overdose, and visiting medical providers are able to prescribe suboxone, a medication that treats opioid use disorders.
Leaders believe safe sleeping may be best for individuals who reject other offers for help, perhaps because of traumatic experiences in traditional shelters. Smith said the nonprofit recently began tracking how many residents had previously gone more than two years without receiving services, and early results suggested more than half fit that description.
The two camping areas have served hundreds of people in recent months.
As of late April, at least 72 had found housing, according to data shared by Dreams for Change. Nearly 170 were kicked out for breaking a rule. An additional 392 left on their own, 42 transferred to rehab or a different shelter, 11 were hospitalized, two were incarcerated and three died.
The City Council is expected to consider new shelter options in September.
Adding 142 tents to O Lot would cost about $3.3 million, while placing 50 more at the nearby 20th and B location should require around $900,000, according to the city’s most recent comprehensive shelter strategy. “We have two incredible providers here,” Gloria said. “I trust them to be able to handle additional capacity if it’s needed — and it will be needed here or somewhere else.”
Leaders may further consider creating shelter at locations not previously discussed, as the head of San Diego’s homelessness department earlier this month sent a memo to council members asking that each submit a “list of feasible sites” in their districts.
Originally Published: