A state program will provide about $12 million to help build a 40-unit apartment building under construction in El Cerrito to provide housing for San Diegans experiencing homelessness.
City and council officials applied for the $11.83 million in Project Homekey money in April and announced they had received that amount on Wednesday. The money will be used to help build PATH Villas El Cerrito, a partnership between PATH Ventures, Family Health Centers of San Diego and Bold Communities at 5476 El Cajon Blvd. in the El Cerrito neighborhood.
The building will have five levels of apartments above a ground-floor integrated health and physical rehabilitation clinic that will be operated by Family Health Centers to provide preventative and medical care, mental-health care, outpatient substance-use treatment, dental care and other supportive services.
The development will also include a dog park and a business center to aid with job searches.
“What solves chronic homelessness is housing with supportive services, and this award from the state’s Project Homekey will help us build 40 more of these critically needed homes,” San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said, adding that he is grateful to the governor for making ending homelessness a top priority.
“Thanks to the vision of Governor Gavin Newsom, our community has another opportunity to match necessary services with safe and stable homes to support San Diegans that need it most,” County Board of Supervisors Chair Nathan Fletcher said. “This project is another demonstration of the County’s unprecedented partnerships and investments in affordable housing and addressing homelessness, our region’s most pressing challenges.”
The county is allocating about $11 million to the project, including future services and operating costs, and the city is providing $2 million from its share of funding from the state Permanent Local Housing Allocation program.
Nearly $3 million needed to complete the financing will come from loan funding.
The San Diego Housing Commission will also provide 40 project-based housing vouchers to help pay rent for the residents who previously experienced homelessness, which is essential for housing stability.
The city previously received $37.7 million from Project Homekey to purchase two extended-stay hotels that house about 400 formerly homeless people.
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