The San Diego Rescue Mission is quietly zeroing in on El Cajon as the likely home for a new East County homeless shelter, with a specific site expected to be chosen by this summer. The faith‑based nonprofit says it plans to own the building and cover operating costs, allowing the East County outpost to run independently while still funneling guests into its longer‑term rehabilitation programs downtown. Leaders are pitching the shelter as one piece of a broader regional network in the north, south, and east county that would connect short‑term beds to longer‑term recovery services.
The concept surfaced publicly in a Sunday report by The San Diego Union‑Tribune, which quoted Rescue Mission CEO Donnie Dee as saying, “Homelessness knows no zip codes.” El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells told the paper he would be “fine” accepting people from other parts of the county and that he is not a believer in housing first. According to the same report, local officials and Rescue Mission leaders are evaluating multiple properties and expect to narrow the list over the coming months.
What the Rescue Mission Is Proposing
The Rescue Mission operates short‑stay, referral‑based “Lighthouse” shelters that combine emergency beds with meals, counseling and case management while requiring sobriety on site. Its South County Lighthouse in National City, a referral‑only, 162‑bed emergency shelter that opened in 2024, is the model the nonprofit says it wants to copy in other parts of the county, according to the San Diego Rescue Mission.
Numbers Behind The Push
The East County expansion is tied to data showing significant need outside downtown. The Regional Task Force on Homelessness’ 2025 WeAllCount found hundreds of unhoused people across East County alongside regionwide declines elsewhere, highlighting gaps in suburban shelter capacity. RTFH’s 2025 release and city reports list El Cajon with a large unsheltered count, with the RTFH report initially noting 344 unsheltered people in El Cajon before city officials said the corrected figure is about 320. The same RTFH data lists Santee at 53 and La Mesa at 52, while other reporting has pegged Lemon Grove’s unsheltered population at roughly 110. (Regional Task Force on Homelessness; Times of San Diego; KPBS.)
Local Reaction And Timeline
El Cajon leaders have largely signaled they are open to the plan. Mayor Bill Wells has helped raise money to bring the Rescue Mission to East County and has said the city could take in people referred from around the region, according to local coverage. Rescue Mission leaders say they hope to lock in a site by summer, then move into neighborhood outreach, permitting and the practical work of staffing and intake before opening, according to reporting and statements from the organization. (East County Magazine; San Diego Union‑Tribune.)…