North County Cities Are Ramping Up Homeless Solutions for Their Own Residents 

This story is part of our It’s Gonna Blow reporting series. Read more stories here.

In 2023, North County cities, like the rest of the San Diego region, saw increases in homelessness. And as homelessness increased, so did the tensions that come with trying to find solutions. 

Over the last several months I’ve followed a shift in how North County leaders are approaching homelessness. Some are ditching collaborative efforts while others are leaning in. But overall, city leaders in the North say they’re planning to pursue more resources for their own homeless residents. 

It would be long overdue; there are only four low-barrier homeless shelters in North County, and two of them opened in 2023. That means for roughly six years, there were two low-barrier shelters serving North County’s entire unsheltered homeless population.  

Low-barrier shelters don’t require things like sobriety or background checks to enter. 

North County had the third-largest homeless population in the county, according to the 2023 point-in-time count, with a total of 1,436 people, making up 14 percent of the region’s homeless population.  

And that homeless census is only a bare minimum count. Homeless service providers are reporting much higher numbers that are increasing rapidly. North County certainly needs more shelters and resources for homeless people, and hopefully, it won’t take another six years for that to happen. 

In Escondido, city leaders decided in August to pull funding from one of its only homeless shelters because city leaders were concerned the shelter was serving too many people that weren’t from Escondido. 

The move was met with some criticism from residents and the operator of the shelter – Interfaith Community Services – whose CEO, Greg Anglea, said back in August that this is the nature of homeless shelters. In fact, there are shelters in other North County cities that primarily serve Escondido residents, Anglea said. 

Taking away that funding also meant leaving the Alliance for Regional Solutions, a network of North County cities that collectively contributes funding to homeless shelters in that part of the region.  

During a City Council meeting, Escondido Mayor Dane White hinted at pursuing a city-run homeless shelter in the future. It’s unclear if and when that will happen. 

In Vista, city officials learned that limited shelter capacity and staffing shortages at nearby homeless shelters meant some of Vista’s homeless residents weren’t getting shelter when they wanted it. That prompted city leaders to pursue opening the city’s first low-barrier homeless shelter in Vista, which is expected to be up and running within the next few months. 

Unlike Escondido, Vista’s leaders didn’t want to depart from the Alliance. Instead, they asked for a higher level of involvement in the network to ensure Vista’s homeless residents are finding the resources they need. 

Other North County cities have also made plans to pursue more homeless solutions in the new year. 

Encinitas is partnering with Vista to jointly establish that low-barrier shelter. The 48-bed shelter will have 12 beds dedicated for Encinitas’ homeless residents. The remaining 36 beds will be for Vista’s homeless residents. 

Oceanside, which has North County’s second largest unsheltered homeless population, may soon be getting its first safe parking lot. 

The program, which received unanimous support from city leaders in October, would provide a safe parking lot for people to sleep in their cars overnight, along with other services like restrooms, showers and maybe laundry machines.  

The proposal is expected to come back to the City Council for an official vote in January.  

This would be the third safe parking lot in North County – the other two are in Encinitas and Vista. Both of those lots are operated by nonprofit Jewish Family Services. 

What We’re Watching: Brother Benno’s 

There’s one homeless service provider that’s facing an uncertain future. 

Brother Benno’s, a nonprofit soup kitchen in Oceanside, has been the subject of ongoing complaints from neighboring businesses, and despite the organization’s efforts, it doesn’t seem to be getting better.  

The complaints are about a group of homeless people that refuses to leave the industrial park that Brother Benno’s is located in. Business owners say the group litters, sleeps overnight in doorways and vandalizes nearby businesses.  

To appease the business owners, the city of Oceanside stepped in and created new conditions that Brother Benno’s had to implement. But some of those conditions are costly, and in an effort to satisfy the business owners, the city might inadvertently end up forcing the nonprofit out.  

So far, Oceanside has required Brother Benno’s to hire security guards and a sanitation worker to patrol the business park. Two security guards are costing the nonprofit $175,000 a year, and the sanitation worker is costing them $50,000 a year. 

Leaders of the organization say they’re not sure how long they can afford to keep operating like this.