Project Homekey funds await approval while some residents are still concerned with a planned homeless housing project in El Cerrito.

After the Board of Supervisors approved a hybrid development of homeless housing and affordable housing for the El Cerrito neighborhood back in April, construction broke ground at 5476 El Cajon Blvd to kick off phase one of plans.

This comes after a funding partnership was struck between PATH Ventures, Family Health Centers of San Diego (FHCSD), BOLD Communities, the City of San Diego, the San Diego Housing Commission, and the County of San Diego. It is a group effort aimed at helping alleviate the homelessness impacting this neighborhood.

The land and the health center are owned by Family Health Centers of San Diego (FHCSD) while the residential portion of this development will be owned and operated collectively by PATH Ventures, FHCSD, and BOLD Communities.

According to Tyler Renner, director of media at PATH Ventures, construction is currently focused on building the first-floor podium which includes a health center and a parking structure. PATH Ventures is continuing to put together the capital funding for the 40 residential units which would complete phase one.

Back in April, the Board of Supervisors allocated some $11 million to the development. However, more funding is hoped for. The City of San Diego, the San Diego Housing Commission and the County of San Diego also applied to obtain state funding under Project Homekey.

“This is precisely what was envisioned by Governor Gavin Newsom and the state Legislature when they created Project Homekey, and I’m grateful for all the ways the state is supporting local efforts to get unhoused residents into homes of their own,” said Mayor Todd Gloria in April.

This development is located in District 9, which Council President Sean Elo-Rivera represents. Chris Chan, director of council communications for Elo-Rivera’s Office, offered a statement on the status of the funds.

“At the moment we have not heard any updates on the status of the application,” said Chan. “We will release a statement or answer questions about the Homekey Project when that happens.”

The City of San Diego also plans to contribute more than $2 million that comes from its portion of funding from California’s permanent local housing allocation program.

While it looks like funding is starting to be solidified for this nearly $24-million development, with construction moving forward, some residents still aren’t sold.

El Cerrito Community Council (ECCC) president Laura Riebau has had concerns from the beginning due to a lack of communication.

She claims that the building was originally supposed to be used for various levels of affordable housing, including low-income and workforce. The shift to homeless housing came as a surprise to the community, according to Riebau.

“PATH and the San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC), nor the City nor FHC, ever contacted the El Cerrito Community (ECCC) or the College Area Planning Board (CAPB) about the change in the use and development of the building,” said Riebau. “We only learned about the change in use by reading the County’s public notice of April 21st for its April 26, 2022 meeting to approve Homekey Funding with information on the new use.”

Since then, Riebau says the ECCC sent Mayor Todd Gloria, Nathan Fletcher, PATH and FHCSD an invitation to their May 19 community meeting to discuss the plans. However, Riebau says, some residents still didn’t feel heard at that meeting.

“Though many questions were listened to, most questions were collected for a response,” said Riebau.

On June 28, PATH Ventures answered questions brought up at the meeting via emailed pdfs sent to the community. Some of the answers addressed concerns about the expansion of homeless housing and how this new building could impact current residents’ quality of life.

Riebau says she still has more questions since these came out. The main concerns Riebau and other residents have is that they’ve felt left out of the loop in the planning, and they feel the location is unsuitable given the purpose of this building.

“This location is inappropriate,” stated a resident who asked to stay anonymous. “There is an elementary school directly across the street in addition to middle school and high school… There is no infrastructure to accommodate the massive influx. Just a poor choice as a site.”

While this resident, who has lived in El Cerrito for more than 20 years and has worked as a psychiatric nurse (LVN), agrees more support for homeless people should be created, they argue it should be focused on rehabilitation, not just housing.

“The county needs to build more institutions for mental disease for long-term rehabilitation as well as expanding the county medical hospital, where we triage these folks,” said the resident.

But, according to Mayor Gloria, the complex problem of homelessness in El Cerrito should have a simple solution.

“What ends homelessness is a home,” said Gloria. “If the State of California selects this project for Project Homekey funding, we will not only provide safe and stable homes; we’ll also be able to provide the supportive services these residents need to remain housed and address the issues that led to their homelessness in the first place.”

Mayor Gloria’s office didn’t indicate when they would hear from the state about Homekey funding but says they are ready to answer further questions when they do receive a verdict.

* Editor’s note: A previous story on this subject can be found at: sdnews.com/project-homekey-residences-in-the-works-for-el-cerrito/  (Photo courtesy of PATH)

– Elaine Alfaro is a journalism student at Point Loma Nazarene University and a former intern for the La Mesa Courier.