By Macy Meinhardt, Voice & Viewpoint Staff Writer
At its height, the Emergency Temporary Lodging Program, a patchwork effort by city, county, and community groups to support displaced flood victims, had sheltered and fed more than 2,200 San Diegans in nearly 900 households. The program expired on June 21st, bearing the question—what happens now?
It’s been six months since the Southeastern region in San Diego was slammed with an atmospheric river that flooded and damaged more than a thousand homes and businesses in District 4 and beyond.
The amount of rain and flooding was unprecedented for the region, and the storm water infrastructure in these areas had failed to have proper maintenance, leading to the disaster.
- On Jan. 22 states of emergency were called in the City of San Diego, County of San Diego, and the State of California.
- The immediate response by agencies such as the San Diego Housing Commission was to establish incident command structures, implement programs for emergency hotel placements until funding from the county kicked in.
February 12: The Emergency Temporary Lodging Program (ETL) was launched by the county to provide a series of hotel vouchers and meal delivery services to displaced victims. This program was set to expire May 11, however, with many homes still not repaired, and an outstanding need still remaining, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted at the end of April to extend the program for another six weeks.
With the extension expired, as of now, all households have exited the county’s ETL program, either moving back to what is left of their homes or have made other arrangements. Moving forward, community based organizations such as Harvey Family Foundation are teaming up with other resources at the Southeastern Disaster Response Team to expedite the renovation process of homes to make them liveable.
Currently the Harvey Family Foundation is sending a call out to the community for volunteers to assist with home renovations, appliance installation, plumbing, electrical services and more. These services will be free of charge and are aimed towards families who did not receive FEMA assistance.
“Many have already hit the streets homeless and scared while others cling to what they
have left inside their hotel rooms praying for an answer. This flood wasn’t their fault yet they have to deal with the consequences of lack of maintenance to the infrastructure around our community. We ask ALL OF SAN DIEGO to stand up with us to help rebuild our communities and get these families back home…. Let’s not turn a blind eye because it’s not your family. Let’s put ourselves in their shoes and help find a solution. we’re calling all service workers, plumbers, electricians, carpenters— all the help we can get to rebuild. It takes a village,” said Armon Harvey, in a June 24 post on Instagram.
As a part of their Flood Recovery Program For Displaced Residents, The San Diego Housing Commission entered into a contract on June 12 with the Harvey Family Foundation for $6600,000 to help administer restoration services for homes on behalf of the City. The contract will run till July 2025.
Family financial assistance, and housing search assistance are also services the SDHC’s program is providing, but only for residents who were eligible to be in the original county emergency lodging program. Many residents have since complained about this eligibility gap, citing instances where SDHC officials have told them to instead, start looking at homeless shelter options.
During the June 24 flood relief meeting held at Jackie Robinson YMCA, SDHC president Lisa Jones confirmed this. Despite the commission “working around the clock”, Jones admits that there is currently more need than there is funding for.
“We have a duty of care to do everything we can just like you all do. I understand shelter isn’t ideal. We’re trying to come up with anything we can to bridge the gap while we try to find longer term housing solutions for folks. We don’t have vouchers sitting on the shelves. I don’t have units sitting empty in our own portfolio and even those have waiting lists too,” said Jones.
With $7 million to work with, Jones states that it will stretch to have about 25-26 homes or units repaired, and provide rental assistance for six months to about 200 households.
“The devastation, the impact that people have had has been extraordinarily painful, and I can tell you that our case managers and my team feel that. It is truly, heart wrenching every day that there isn’t more that we can do. We’re doing everything we can to help folks,” said Jones.
Applications for assistance will be taken until September. To apply and receive more information visit: floodassitance.sdhc.org or call 619-578-7791, and email [email protected].
For those outside the City of San Diego:
- National City Housing Commission: 619-743-6420, email – [email protected]
- County of San Diego Housing and Community Development Services: 858-694-4801, email- [email protected]
To connect with a volunteer for home repair:
- Call 619-673-8780 or fill out an online form. Your information will remain confidential. Volunteer organizations do not check immigration status.
