The first of San Diego’s “Safe Sleeping” saw its first guests Thursday. Some of them were hopeful for stepping stones toward a brighter future, while other former homeless people questioned whether the site could help toward a solution.
The safe sleeping site at San Diego’s Central Operations Yard at 20th and B streets has capacity for 150 people. It's considered a "low barrier" shelter which means, among other things, guests don’t have to be sober but they can’t bring in alcohol, drugs or weapons. There is no specific curfew but there is quiet time between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. and guests aren't allowed during that time.
The safe sleeping project is what the city says is the first step to solving its growing homeless problem. It’s also an important component of the city's new ban on camping in public spaces.
Behind the chain link and barbed-wire fence at the back gate of the Central Operations yard, Regina Henning and her husband Jason are seeking safer shelter.
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"I just want a place for us that actually has a roof," Henning said. “There are bathrooms, hand washing stations, there are places to charge our portables and phones. We have tents, we actually have cots inside the tents."
Far better than the blankets they slept on outside by the Martin Luther King Promenade just the night before.
Henning said she needed her case worker from St. Vincent de Paul Village to sign her up. One night in, she's happy with security measures that are in place.
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"They do check bigger bags like backpacks and suitcases. They also run your name through Megan’s Law to make sure they aren’t bringing sexual predators," she said.
A volunteer named Charles Love told NBC 7 he was homeless for eight years before finding a studio apartment at Alpha Square. He's less optimistic about the site's ability to help its guests get closer to finding permanent housing.
"I know they are working hard. but this is not an easy fix it’s not," Love said. “It’s a short-term solution to a long-term problem. I hope it works. They can’t stay here forever.'
Forever is not Henning's plan. She and her husband want to save some money to start an animal rescue out of state.
"This place is great but I’m not used to being on the street. I just want to be back being in a house and feel normal again," Henning said.
The city’s second Safe Sleeping Site at the “O Lot” near Naval Medical Center San Diego is scheduled to open in the fall, and will provide room for approximately 400 tents.
