Homeless Services to Unwind at San Diego Convention Center – NBC 7 San Diego

After nearly a year of housing thousands of homeless residents, the city will begin to unwind operations at the shelter made at the San Diego Convention Center during the start of the pandemic.

Homeless individuals who are currently staying at the convention center shelter will be relocated to reconfigured shelters and continue to receive the same services, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria is set to announce Friday. The move comes as part of the mayor’s promise to wind down the shelter at the convention center by the end of March.

As part of the city’s Operation Shelter to Home initiative, the San Diego Convention Center was turned into a homeless shelter to allow residents who were staying at other shelters to safely social distance and prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The effort was launched April 1, 2020 and has since served more than 4,000, people according to the city.

The initiative helped more than 1,200 individuals and 43 families find permanent or longer-term housing.

San Diego city and county teamed up with the San Diego Convention Center Corporation and Regional Task Force on the Homeless to create the program. Agencies agreed to extend Operation Shelter to Home through January. With the city council’s approval, Mayor Gloria took a step further and extended the effort through March.

The mayor will be joined by other city and county leaders for the official announcement at 11 a.m. Friday.