Name: Convention Center shelter set to close, hundreds moving out next week
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Convention Center shelter set to close, hundreds moving out next week

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Copyright © 2022, The San Diego Union-Tribune | | AdvertisementAdvertisement About half of the 900 homeless people sheltered at the San Diego Convention Center are scheduled to move out of the venue and into permanent homes next week with the remainder expected to leave the following week, a city official said Tuesday.San Diego Housing Commission President and CEO Rick Gentry said the city finalized the purchase of two extended-stay hotels last Wednesday, and 400 people now at the Convention Center’s Shelter to Home program will begin moving in next week.Gentry and other city officials on Tuesday said the Convention Center program has been successful on many levels, including finding permanent housing for more than 1,000 homeless people. Unless additional funding is identified to keep the program operating, however, the plan is for others staying at the Convention Center but not moving into hotels to return in mid-December to other city-run shelters that have been closed since April.Bob McElroy, president and CEO of the homeless service provider Alpha Project, said he is making preparations for people to move back in the two shelters his nonprofit operates in about two weeks. The Alpha Project and Father Joe’s Villages oversee sections of the Convention Center shelter.Closing the shelter after eight months in operation does not mean the Convention Center will be returning to its intended use anytime soon, however.AdvertisementAfter speaking at a Tuesday press conference outside the venue, Convention Center President and CEO Rip Rippetoe said no events are booked during the first quarter of 2021, but others are scheduled, for now, in April and May. “Everything from May on is a strong possibility,” he said, acknowledging some doubts about April.While 18 events in early 2021 already have been cancelled, four are still on the books for March, with the first and largest the IPC Apex Expo for electronics manufacturers, which could draw 8,000 people March 9-11.Seven events still are scheduled for April, including a private event and seminar that could attract 14,000 people April 8-9. For now, Comic-Con International still is scheduled for July 22-25.As the shelter at the San Diego Convention Center winds down, local officials are calling the venture a success that at times helped protect more than 1,000 people daily from the coronavirus while also finding permanent homes for 1,100.“This is new a model, and this pandemic brought our region together like never before,” San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer said at the press conference.The Convention Center shelter opened in April following concerns that city-run shelters in two large tents run by the Alpha Project and at Golden Hall in the downtown San Diego Concourse run by Father Joe’s Villages were too crowded and could be a breeding ground for the coronavirus. The three shelters since have been reconfigured with fewer beds to allow for more social distancing.Hundreds of people were moved from the shelters to the more-spacious Convention Center, which itself had fallen victim to the coronavirus, as more than 100 events were cancelled or moved online since March.Hall H, famous as the Comic-Con room where some of the biggest stars in Hollywood discuss their latest blockbusters before thousands of fans each summer, was filled with cots and tables for homeless people. Stations were set up for counselors, case workers and for health screenings and COVID-19 tests while trailers with showers and laundry rooms were parked in the loading docks.The Convention Center always was intended as a temporary venture. In September, the City Council agreed to provide an additional $11 million to keep the shelter open in November and December.In one of his last appearances as mayor before leaving office next Thursday, Faulconer said the Shelter to Home program was successful because of the collaborative effort of state, county and local officials, including the San Diego Housing Commission and Regional Task Force on the Homeless.Faulconer said the effort proved successful in protecting people from the pandemic, with only 27 residents and staff members testing positive for the coronavirus out of 9,300 tests administered since April.While the pandemic was the driving motivation for creating the shelter, Faulconer said having so many people under one roof created opportunities for agencies to work togethers on housing people, resulting in three times as many people finding permanent homes than in past years.“These collaborative efforts, with emphasis on collaborative, have helped 840 individuals, plus an additional 45 families get into housing already,” he said, adding that the numbers do not include the 400 who will move into homes at a city-owned hotel on Hotel Circle and another in Kearny Mesa.State Assemblyman Todd Gloria, who will be sworn as San Diego’s new mayor next Thursday, said homelessness will continue to be a top priority when he takes office.“There is no amount of people living on the streets that we ought to be comfortable with,” he said. “One person is too many. That’s why I set the goal of ending chronic homelessness in our city in our administration.”At its peak, the Convention Center shelter held 1,300 people. Faulconer said it is providing shelter for about 900 people this week. Updates Get Essential San Diego, weekday mornings Get top headlines from the Union-Tribune in your inbox weekday mornings, including top news, local, sports, business, entertainment and opinion. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the San Diego Union-Tribune. Show Comments Load More Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement AdvertisementAdvertisement AdvertisementAdvertisement

Copyright © 2022, The San Diego Union-Tribune | | AdvertisementAdvertisement About half of the 900 homeless people sheltered at the San Diego Convention Center are scheduled to move out of the venue and into permanent homes next week with the remainder expected to leave the following week, a city official said Tuesday.San Diego Housing Commission President and CEO Rick Gentry said the city finalized the purchase of two extended-stay hotels last Wednesday, and 400 people now at the Convention Center’s Shelter to Home program will begin moving in next week.Gentry and other city officials on...

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Gary Warth

The San Diego Union-Tribune, the region's leading news source since 1868. Follow our journalists, too: http://j.mp/UTstaff

Convention Center shelter set to close, hundreds moving out next week

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