San Diego Housing Emergency Alliance

$650K spent clearing homeless camps since July 2025 & "staff connected 13 people with housing & 44 people enrolled in the city’s Safe Sleeping Program."
Over "16K referrals were made for shelter beds. Only 9% of requests for shelter were filled."

Governor Gavin Newsom Mayor Todd Gloria Joe LaCava Assemblymember Chris Ward

City Crews Have Cleared a Freeway Encampment Nearly 70 Times. People Keep Returning ‘It’s like they’re just hustling us around -- it’s like they’re moving cattle,’ one person said.

"Years ago, Menasche sued the city over the same issue, and the case, Bloom v. City of San Diego, seemingly ended in 2024. That was when officials agreed to stop citing RV dwellers as long as there was nowhere else for them to go.

"But once H Barracks opened last year, police resumed writing tickets.

"Menasche believes the lot, which is only open overnight, is an ineffective offering, especially for disabled and low-income individuals who may not be able to afford the gas required to drive in and out every day. Indeed, public data show that sites open 24 hours have had more success bringing people in.

"Those lots can cost more, however, and the state permit San Diego has for H Barracks currently bars daytime parking.

"The judge has not yet weighed in."

RV dwellers protest San Diego’s decision to ticket those living in vehicles Local leaders argue that they’ve already provided a viable alternative.

Please Join Us on Tuesday Feb. 10th at Noon, in the San Diego Civic Center Plaza, 1200 3rd Av. (adjacent to City Hall)!

Homeless residents of the City of San Diego have invoked Celie's Curse: "Until you do right by me, everything you even think about is gonna fail/crumble".

Padres development team backs out of deal to buy, redevelop Tailgate Park San Diego’s stalled deal to sell the 5.25-acre downtown lot to the Tailgate Park development team has collapsed under the weight of continued ligation and a hostile real estate market.

Nine years ago, STILL!
"Nafis acknowledged it’s not up to his church to decide whether homeless members are allowed to stay outside the building, but he called the homeless sweeps 'immoral and unhelpful.'

"He said it disrupts any sense of stability for people 'who are already on the edge, emotionally and mentally.'

"For many of the homeless parishioners, Nafis said, the stretch of the sidewalk became a place where they were safe from being robbed or attacked.

"Nafis, whose church was established about six months ago, said the group isn’t allowed to sleep inside the church to avoid violating zoning laws and other city ordinances."

S.D. police cite homeless choir members for sleeping outside their church SAN DIEGO — San Diego police cited a dozen homeless people Tuesday morning for sleeping in tents on a sidewalk outside a small East Village church where some of them sing in a …

“'SROs had a real negative connotation,' said Stacey Livingstone, researcher for UC San Diego’s Homeless Hub. 'They were seen as housing that essentially, like, outsiders lived in, transients, folks who didn't want to work, folks who didn't want to get married.'

"Society labeled SROs as a 'blight.'

"When cities started pushing for 'urban renewal,' they destroyed SRO buildings.

"Livingstone said when 'revitalized' Horton Plaza and the Gaslamp Quarter in the ‘80s, it lost a quarter of its SRO stock at once.

"People were pushed out of SROs and onto the street. The so-called 'blight' of poverty became even more visible."

San Diego’s dorm-style housing is disappearing as the need grows The city is trying to turn that around. But so far, it’s not working.

MUST READ ...

"She lay on dirt near some trolley tracks in Lemon Grove, her legs partially submerged in muddy water, Quinones, 69, said in a recent interview. He called a non-emergency line. A sheriff’s SUV arrived a little later. But the vehicle then backed up and drove off without anyone stepping outside.

"Quinones dialed the non-emergency line again. Soon after, he got a call directly from somebody at the sheriff’s office. 'She’s a transient,' the official said about the woman in the ditch, according to Quinones. 'There’s gonna be more, get used to it.'

"That alleged exchange is now the subject of two investigations, because within days the woman was dead."

A woman was in a ditch. Could the sheriff’s office have saved her life? Investigators are exploring whether a deputy blew off a neighbor’s call for help.

Another news story about the latest lawsuit filed by SD HEMA co-founder Ann Menasche along with fellow attorneys Genevieve Jones-Wright, Scott Dreher and others on behalf of several camp residents:

"Of the 1,787 individuals who stayed at the camps in the last fiscal year...at least 156 people (8.7%) made it into some form of long-term housing... An add'l 76 transferred to a different shelter while 41 left for treatment programs or nursing homes."

City of San Diego

Lawsuit: San Diego’s homeless camping areas are ‘anything but safe’ The two sleeping sites near Balboa Park have become a central part of the city’s homelessness response.

SD HEMA co-founder Ann Menasche is one of the attorneys who filed this lawsuit on behalf of residents of the City of San Diego's two so-called "Safe Sleeping Sites" which are anything BUT safe:

"A lawsuit was filed this week, listing claims of rodents being found at the sites, issues with living conditions, and complaints about security issues, among other concerns.

"'The shelter itself is also inadequate. They first gave ice fishing tents to participants, and what that means is there was no flooring in the tents,' Jones-Wright said. 'It really could have been something that was helpful, and it is really just turned into a nightmare for a lot of people, including our clients.'

"In June, ABC 10News discovered that 12 deaths were reported at the Safe Sleeping Sites since they were opened in 2023. According to the City, that number is now 13."

Lawsuit filed by attorneys & unhoused regarding City of San Diego's Safe Sleeping Sites Local attorneys and activists are demanding action as they questioned the City of San Diego and its Safe Sleeping Sites.

Regarding Vehicle Habitation in the City of San Diego:

Look at information flyer on website https://vhosettlement.com/know-your-rights.html

People who live in their RVs who can’t go back and forth to H Barracks which is nighttime only for whatever reason need to tell the cops that and record the interaction just letting them know they are doing so.
And call the hotline!
619-320-5763

VHO SETTLEMENT! | VHO SETTLEMENT! In the wake of the opening of the night-time only “Safe Lot” at H Barracks (2209 Kinkaid Road), San Diego police have begun cracking down on people who live in their RVs, campers, or trailers under the Oversized Vehicle Ordinance (OVO). The police are focusing on ticketing those living at Missio...