Business Leaders’ Aid for Downtown’s Homeless Is Urged

County Supervisor Leon Williams urged downtown business leaders Tuesday to financially support a proposed program to aid the homeless, whose problems, he said, “have never been greater than they are today.”

Downtown San Diego is a focal point for the homeless, who congregate on the streets.

Williams said “there is no quick fix” for the problem and that “much of the success of downtown revitalization will depend upon how we deal with the homeless.”

“Our failure to put adequate public and private resources into this will threaten the tremendous investment that has been made downtown,” he added.

Williams, speaking at a Central City Assn. luncheon, said at least half of the homeless are mentally disabled. “Local government is just now dealing with the impact of the well-meaning intentions of 25 years ago when state institutions were closed down.”

As a solution to the problem, Williams outlined a program with the following steps:

- Opening a socialization center, “located in this central region,” where the mentally ill would be able to gain social skills “and increase their ability to live independently.”

- Developing a combined acute crisis residence and a semi-supervised living program near downtown. Williams said that clients would be able to stay in the crisis residence program up to 30 days and that the program would provide a “24-hour environment to help homeless people deal with crisis situations.”

- A “self-help peer-companion program” where volunteers would help the mentally ill on a one-on-one basis. The program would be headquartered downtown, but operate countywide, Williams said.

- A day center for the homeless, not limited to the mentally ill. “The right to be on the street doesn’t mean there can’t be a better choice for many of the homeless during the daytime.”

Williams said the day center would be the centerpiece of an fund-raising campaign to seek private funds to help support the programs for the homeless.