Christy walked through Downtown San Diego, holding a stack of resumes and wearing a new outfit. Her plan was to pass out the list of her work experience in hopes of finding an office job. It's a big step for Christy who, just days ago, was living out of her car.
Christy fled an abusive relationship and NBC 7 is not using her last name to protect her identity. After about a year of living in her car, an experience she called "very, very scary," she sought out a shelter bed.
“I had started to lose even my faith. I had stopped talking to God. Because I thought, if there is a God, why does he allow this to happen to me?” said Christy.
She found a shelter bed the first day she started making calls.
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"But I've been told that's very very rare, very rare," said Christy. “It was a homeless lady that led me to the homeless Resource Center, so, and she just happened to be in the shelter that I was placed in. And so that was when I started to regain my faith.”
Shelters throughout the city of San Diego remain at or near capacity. But having a place to stay, food to eat and health supports, she said, have allowed her to find her footing, and even begin the job hunt.
“No one wants to give you a job when you're un-showered and you can't put an address on a resume,” said Christy. "I'm feeling empowered now. I'm feeling like I can go past all these resumes and at the end of it all, I can go back to my bed."
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However, Christy knows that is not the case for thousands of people living on San Diego's streets. Maj. Rob Reardon knows that, too. It's why the Salvation Army is looking to build the Rady Center on its existing Downtown land. The $119 million project, a public-private partnership, would have 220 short-term housing beds, sober living beds and affordable rental homes.
"Their health, their safety, their mental well-being, their emotional and spiritual well-being will all be addressed on our campus," said Maj. Reardon, whose own father experienced homelessness. “Knowing my dad suffered in this way helps to motivate me to not let someone else's potential father or current father or son or daughter suffer this way.”
The Salvation Army's current $20 million shelter, the Rady Residence at the Door of Hope Campus, opened in November 2020, and is fully occupied. The Salvation Army hopes to break ground on the new Rady Center Downtown in 2025, and open its doors in 2027.
The project requires $30 million in private donations -- $27 million of which has already been raised. It already has an additional $30 million secured for operating costs, which is estimates will be to the tune of $4-7 million each year.
Data released this week by the Regional Task Force on Homelessness show the number of people falling into homelessness for the first time has outpaced the number of people securing housing for two years.
Christy hopes the attention on increasing shelter capacity can give other people the opportunity she has now for a fresh start.
"It can happen to anyone. Like never think it can't happen to you," said Christy. “You know, I say us because I'm homeless still, but I feel like I'm not anymore. A shelter will do that for you.”
