Seasonal Shelters to Begin Serving Homeless San Diegans
St. Vincent’s Will Again Manage Services Offered to Temporary Residents

   SAN DIEGO — St. Vincent de Paul Village will open the city-funded family seasonal shelter located at 1196 Broadway (corner of 12th and Broadway) and its corresponding sprung structure for single adults erected at 1535 Newton Avenue A (corner of 16th and Newton) on Friday, Dec. 15 at 8:30 a.m.

   President of St. Vincent’s, Father Joe Carroll, says the openings come at a time when his downtown rehabilitation center has already seen a record number of homeless families and single adults seeking placement in the Village’s emergency weather shelter.

   "We’ve been providing emergency shelter at the Village since early November," he says. "On average, 90 family members – more than 60 of whom are children – and 200 single adults have been sleeping in the two dining rooms at St. Vincent’s."

   Father Joe says those averages indicate a sharp increase in the homeless population from last January, when the demand for shelter forced St. Vincent’s to turn families away for the first time in its history.

   "Those families and single adults currently in the Village’s emergency shelter will be transitioned in to the seasonal shelter program," he says. "But we’ll still have the floors in our two dining rooms available for overflow shelter space … there are just not enough beds in the city to meet the needs of our homeless neighbors."

   St. Vincent’s will hire 30 additional staff to man the shelters and will enlist the help of other social service agencies, such as the city’s Health and Human Services Division and Travelers’ Aid to assist the temporary residents.

   The family seasonal shelter will house 148 family members, while 200 is the maximum capacity for the single adult structure. Both facilities are scheduled to close March 15, 2001, though city officials last year provided funding that allowed the single adult shelter to remain open until April 15 and extended the family winter housing program until mid-May.

Following are some notable statistics from the 1999 winter shelter program:

• Of the 4,630 total unduplicated homeless individuals served, 519 were children living in 226 family groups
• The average size of families was 3.5 members
• More than 1.5 million meals were served during the duration of the program
• Clients stayed an average of 23 days
• Families represented 16 percent of the total seasonal shelter population
• A total of 107,287 bed-nights were provided during the entire winter season
• Adult family members averaged an 11.5 education level, while single women registered at 12.2 and single men averaged 11.7
• The average age of children was 7.6 and the same statistic for adult family members was 34.9
• Single adults’ average age was 41.9
• Families were homeless for an average of 54 days prior to entering the winter shelter program and single women and men registered at 14.5
• Twenty-eight families were transferred into St. Vincent de Paul Village’s short-term residential program

For more information on this year’s seasonal shelter program, please call St. Vincent’s Residential Program Manager Kathleen McCann at (619) 233-8500, extension 1234.

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