Plans Unveiled for San Diego County’s Behavioral Health Campus
San Diego County is set to build a state-of-the-art Behavioral Health Wellness Campus in the Midway District — a first-of-its-kind facility combining mental health, addiction treatment, and support services under one roof. The $210 million campus will serve more than 20,000 people each year, including veterans, adults, and justice-involved residents.
The proposed campus will feature crisis stabilization units, residential treatment, peer-led respite care, and outpatient mental health services. County leaders say the project will replace a fragmented system with coordinated, whole-person care. The County is seeking up to $100 million in state funding through Proposition 1 to support construction.
Full November CalFresh/SNAP Benefits Are Being Delivered to San Diego Beneficiaries
San Diego CalFresh/SNAP beneficiaries are starting to see their full November benefits loaded on to their EBT cards.
The process began late Thursday, November 6th after a federal court ruled in favor of restoring full benefits during the government shutdown, according to the State.
Benefits normally issued from the first to seventh have now been loaded on to EBT cards. Remaining benefits will be issued as regularly scheduled through November tenth.
Legal cases remain ongoing, and the County will provide more information as it becomes available. Information on food resources is available through the 211 San Diego webpage or by calling 211 San Diego. Additional resources including, food banks and pantries located throughout the region can be accessed using the Feeding San Diego interactive map or San Diego Food Bank interactive map.
In San Diego County, about 400,000 individuals receive CalFresh benefits, based on their income. For example, a family of four must make less than $5,360 a month to qualify.
San Diego Food Relief Groups Unite to Protect Access Amid Federal Cuts
As historic federal cuts threaten access to food assistance for hundreds of thousands of San Diegans, the Prebys Foundation – in partnership with Feeding San Diego and the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank – announced on November 6, $3M in emergency funding to protect and strengthen the region’s food security network.
With hundreds of thousands of residents at risk of losing food assistance, this investment provides immediate relief to organizations on the frontlines of hunger relief. Each $1.5 million grant will help expand emergency food distribution, support local farms, and ensure equitable access to nutritious food as federal resources diminish.
San Diego County is projected to lose more than $300 million annually in government funding, including an estimated $200 million in new costs or cuts to CalFresh, California’s version of SNAP. The loss of federal food benefits not only deepens food insecurity, it also removes $260 million from the local economy, jeopardizing both access to food and the livelihoods of small farmers.
The emergency investment will reportedly help offset these losses by providing immediate operational support to strengthen San Diego’s food-relief infrastructure and sustain Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) partnerships which connect local growers to community food programs.
The grants are part of United for San Diego, a joint philanthropic initiative by Prebys Foundation, Price Philanthropies, and San Diego Foundation, created to support local communities impacted by cuts to federal programs that provide housing, food, and healthcare.
San Diegans can donate at SDFoundation.org/unity.
Board of Supervisors Approves Plan to Create Safety Net Bridge Program
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors has approved a plan to explore creation of a Safety Net Bridge Program aimed at preventing service gaps for residents who may lose Medi-Cal, CalFresh, or other essential benefits due to recent federal policy changes.
The program would link community-based strategies to maintain access to healthcare, food, and social services. Proposed measures include expanding no-cost primary care through local providers, same-day prescription access, volunteer-driven medical services, and food distribution partnerships to reduce waste and improve nutrition access.
County staff will report back within 45 days with preliminary findings, followed by an implementation plan outlining costs and funding sources to launch the program.
