244 Fewer Experiencing Homelessness

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News Date
10/04/24
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Two problems decades in the making, and two big updates on those issues in today’s email. And please join me in supporting Domestic Violence Awareness this October. 

244 People Diverted From The Streets

The best time to help someone from becoming homeless is before it happens. This is why I’m so excited that a partnership I’ve spearheaded between the County and philanthropic community to prevent people from losing their home is showing encouraging results. 

Between January and July of this year, 209 households were provided support and financial assistance to help keep a roof over their heads. The assistance we were able to provide means that 244 San Diegans were kept from becoming chronically homeless. And this type of assistance is also cost effective – on average, it costs just $2,863 per household to keep people housed, versus the tens of thousands of dollars it costs to help someone off the street.

Read Zenobia Jennings inspiring story here, in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Using a combination of specialized training and financial assistance, “homelessness diversion” helps steer people who are at-risk or just became homeless away from a shelter, or living in their vehicle, or on the street into secure housing. With money from the County and philanthropic organizations, we were able to provide the Regional Task Force on Homelessness with $1 million for these efforts.    

We’ve used about $600,000. This means there is still money to help more people. 100% of this funding goes directly to assist people, and is not used for administrative support or staffing costs. 

This is a great example of how we’ve been focused on taking action and delivering results on homelessness, not just talking about it. These efforts are crucial in keeping our neighbors housed and preventing the spiral into chronic homelessness. 

Pursuing Superfund Designation for Tijuana River Valley Could Aid Cleanup Efforts

We talk a lot – and do a lot – about the Tijuana River crisis. Here are some examples of recent actions: 

  • Declared a State of Emergency and expanded Public Health research and coordination. 

  • New Treatment Plant Expansion: The IBWC broke ground on a $400 million expansion of the South Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant, doubling its capacity to prevent 90% of untreated sewage from reaching our coast.

  • Mexico’s Commitment: Mexico began rehabilitating the Punta Bandera Plant, which will eliminate nearly 100% of sewage spills that have historically closed our beaches in summer months.

  • For the first time in 1,000 days, the beaches in Imperial Beach are open for our families to enjoy, thanks to repairs to critical infrastructure, including a pump in Tijuana that manages sewage flow.

While these accomplishments are worth celebrating, they only address the immediate challenges of sewage runoff. The long-term impacts of decades of toxic chemicals, industrial waste, and raw sewage seeping into the Tijuana River Valley are still unknown.

For 80 years, the Tijuana River Valley has been inundated with not just sewer water, but a toxic cocktail of chemicals, industrial waste, and heavy metals. This alarming level of hazardous substances has likely seeped into the soil, sediment, and groundwater, which if true, threatens public health, local ecosystems, and the economy. 

On Tuesday I’ll ask my colleagues on the Board of Supervisors to approve a petition to the EPA to designate the Tijuana River Valley as a “Superfund” site. 

Superfund designation would allow the County to access federal funding for thorough investigation, remediation, and long-term management of the pollution. The designation also would ensure a structured cleanup plan targeting hazardous contaminants that pose significant health risks. My policy will also seek to ensure that San Diego County gets its fair share of Superfund resources as the federal government moves forward with President Biden’s reinstated Superfund tax, which is expected to generate $52 billion over the next decade.

This approach has worked in other areas. Communities across the U.S., like the Gowanus Canal in New York and the Duwamish River in Seattle, have been remediated through Superfund. 

Our commnity deserves to know if the Tijuana River Valley qualifies.

In service,

Terra