Housing Commission supports more low-income housing, reunification project
Wesley Terrace in Talmadge would have 159 affordable units for 55 years under a financing plan to rehabilitate the privately owned building. The San Diego Housing Commission recommended the plan for approval and also recommended funding three programs that would create 120 temporary housing units for homeless people Thursday.
(Gary Warth)
Three nonprofits will subsidize temporary homes for 120 homeless families, an apartment building will have 159 affordable units for 55 years and more homeless families may be reunited with family members under plans recommended Thursday by the San Diego Housing Commission.
In a move aimed at helping homeless families transition into permanent housing, commissioners recommended spending $1.4 million of the city's Homeless Emergency Aid Program funds to create additional temporary residential units known as rapid re-housing.
The money would be split evenly among People Assisting the Homeless (better known as PATH), Home Start, Inc. and the Salvation Army. The nonprofits would receive about $455,000 to fund new rapid re-housing programs that would each house 40 families through April 2020.
Under rapid re-housing, homeless people receive rental assistance for a limited time, with subsidies tapering off as clients become self-sufficient. The Housing Commission already has six rapid re-housing programs administered by five service providers.
Paul Armstrong, social service director for the Salvation Army in San Diego, said the funds will double the capacity of the nonprofit's existing rapid re-housing program, which generally helps people with rent subsidies for up to two years and follow-up services.
"Each month we work with a family to see if they can take over more rent," Armstrong said after Thursday's meeting. "Our target for rental assistance is for 12 months or so, and then to be a cheerleader for the last part."
The Salvation Army's existing rapid re-housing program has been funded with an annual $385,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The grant money is used to assist about 30 families a year, Armstrong said.
The new HEAP funding is part of one-time $500 million state grant created in 2018 to fund programs in cities with large homeless populations. The city of San Diego received $14.1 million in HEAP funds and the San Diego Regional Task Force on the Homeless received $18.8 million.
The Housing Commission is responsible for allocating the bulk of the city's HEAP funds, which have to be designated by next Jan. 1 and must be spent by June 30, 2021.
Also on Thursday, the commission agreed to spend $450,000 in HEAP funds to expand Downtown San Diego Partnership's Clean and Safe Family Reunification program.
The additional funding will increase the program's reach beyond downtown to include Bankers Hill, Balboa Park, Hillcrest, Barrio Logan, Golden Hill and Sherman Heights.
The reunification program connects people and families living on the street or in shelters with relatives or others in their support system who can help them get back on their feet.
The commission's existing contract with the group is for $394,000, and it is said to have reunited 1,360 individuals with family or friends between June 2017 to the end of last February. Expanding the program is expected to serve about 1,400 more people through June 2020.
In another action Thursday, commissioners agreed to authorize $24 million in Multifamily Housing Revenue Bonds to allow Wesley Terrace Partners, LP to refurbish its eight-story apartment building Wesley Terrace in Talmadge. There would be no cost to the city.
Multifamily Housing Revenue Bonds allow developers to obtain below-market financing because interest income is exempt from state and federal taxes. Developers in return must set aside a certain percent of units for people earning 60 percent or less of the area median income. At Wesley Terrace, 159 units will remain affordable for 55 years under the bond agreement.
Built in 1973, Wesley Terrace is in need of new flooring, windows, cabinets, lighting, appliances and improvements to its common area, elevator, boiler and fire alarm system, according to the staff report.
Because the commission did not have a quorum at its Thursday's meeting, votes were not official approvals, but recommendations that will be forwarded to the San Diego City Council for a final vote.
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