The San Diego County Board of Supervisors will vote on a new budget Thursday that is expected to include a shift in funding for homeless services. While the volume of homeless services and programs won’t be reduced, some one-time grants that fund homeless programs are set to expire.
Some of the grants coming to a close support permanent housing solutions, temporary housing vouchers and outreach workers in the Plaza Bonita and San Diego Riverbed areas.
The San Diego Riverpark Foundation conducted the research that helped the county secure the Encampment Resolution Program grant money. The Foundation’s Chief Operating Officer Sarah Hutmacher said that since this funding has been implemented, her team has been able to connect more people experiencing homelessness in the riverbed to outreach workers and services.
“We’ve built a lot of great infrastructure, but the work continues,” Hutmacher said. “And it would be a real shame for the river to have everything go back to the way it was.”…