San Diego, CA
Opinion: Bold action is needed to secure more housing
The homelessness crisis in San Diego is complex and urgent, demanding innovative ideas and decisive action.
Over the last year, my team at the Homelessness Strategies and Solutions Department has worked to add more than 900 new sheltering options — including traditional shelter beds and safe sleeping sites — but we know we have more work to do. Approximately 80 percent of shelter bed referrals are not met, because we don’t have enough resources to keep pace. Our outreach teams often have to tell people there is no space available — this is not acceptable to me and should not be acceptable to anyone. The status quo will remain unless bold action is taken.
We have looked at dozens of properties, both city-owned and private property, to keep adding much needed shelter beds. We’ve turned non-transitional spaces into temporary shelter for San Diegans trying to end their homelessness, but those are temporary solutions. San Diego has never had a long-term shelter campus solely dedicated and designed to help those experiencing homelessness. As a leader in this space, the type of campus proposed at Hope @ Vine would set the bar for how local governments address homelessness.
The property located near Middletown presents us the unique opportunity to create a space to address the varying populations experiencing homelessness, ensuring we are incorporating best practices, lessons learned from siting shelters in the past, voices from local leaders and those with lived experience. This facility will honor the humanity and dignity of every individual being served. We aren’t looking to lease a warehouse, we’re planning to build a transformative campus to deliver services and ultimately save lives in a modern, compassionate way that all San Diegans can be proud of.
When considering the size of the project, I understand some may be concerned about density and scale. Rather than a large, impersonal space, I ask you to imagine a bright, welcoming, state-of-the-art facility designed with care and intention. Creating a successful and sustainable design for this project is a top priority for me and my team. With 65,000 square feet of indoor space in separate buildings, we can create individual spaces for different populations potentially including families, older adults, veterans and other San Diegans. In essence, it will function as multiple shelters on one campus with outdoor patios and dining areas, a commercial kitchen, pet spaces, laundry facilities, and round-the-clock security and staffing to enhance safety for everyone. We also envision onsite medical and behavioral health services, as well as case management, job training, and other wrap-around services, will be offered.
It will be a place of hope and opportunity, helping people transition out of crisis and into a clean, safe and inclusive environment, setting them up to improve their lives and become self-sufficient.
Where do we go next? If this project is approved by the San Diego City Council on Monday, we have more work to do. One of my top priorities is hearing from those who have personally experienced homelessness. These individuals will be part of a working group with regional experts to help guide our efforts. This collaboration will be invaluable.
I know the Hope @ Vine campus will be a life saving asset for our most vulnerable residents working to end their homelessness with the ultimate goal of connecting people to long-term, stable housing. We know this can be a model that other cities look to as they similarly grapple with the complexities of homelessness. In the face of such urgent need, we cannot turn a blind eye to an opportunity that holds so much promise. The cost of doing nothing is too high.
Jarman is director of the city of San Diego’s Homelessness Strategies and Solutions Department and lives in San Diego.
Originally Published:
Joan Endres
OBITUARY
Born January 1939 in Cincinnati Ohio. Died February 14, 2026, in San Diego, California, with her sons at her side. Her beloved husband Dean passed away in 2010.
Joan was the only child of Thomas and Edna Palmer. In 1943, the family moved to San Diego, where Joan graduated from Helix High School in 1956.
In 1957 Joan married Dean Endres of San Diego, where they raised two sons. Joan followed her two great passions outside the home, the Arts, and Gardening. Both activities being a way to bring beauty to others and to the community.
Joan received a degree in Environmental Design from San Diego State University, and afterwords worked at UCSD, for the Campus Architect.
As an artist, Joan worked in various media, especially ceramics. She was active in many cultural and arts organizations, eventually becoming President of the Combined Organization for the Visual Arts (COVA). Later she turned to gardening, with the Water Conservation Garden at Cuyamaca Community College and the Master Gardener Association of San Diego County.
Joan is survived by her son Jeff and wife Katrin, grandson Jackson, and son Todd Endres, all of La Mesa, and sisters Alice Buck of Phoenix, Elaine Kennedy of San Diego, Nancy and husband Don Jones of Vista, Eva Budzinski of Cloudcroft, New Mexico, and their children and grandchildren.
There will be a Celebration of Life for Joan in the near future. Those who wish to attend should contact celebratejoanuvart@gmail.com to receive details when they are confirmed. In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully suggests a donation to the Water Conservation Garden or the Diego Visual Arts Network (SDVAN).
The San Diego State Aztecs’ have moved off the bubble and back into the NCAA Tournament’s Field of 64 in the latest ESPN’s Bracketology projections.
The Aztecs must feel like a yo-yo, but now it’s in a good way. Bracket expert Joe Lunardi moved them from the bottom of the First Four Out — No. 72 — to holding the Mountain West’s automatic bid after an 89-72 home romp Wednesday night over Utah State, which had held the auto-bid in bracketology for a few weeks now.
Lunardi now has the Aztecs as the No. 11 seed in the West Region, with a projected first-round date against former MW rival BYU in Portland.
Lunardi wrote that SDSU’s auto-bid “shifts the entire bubble.”
Wednesday night’s victory not only pulled the Aztecs (19-8, 13-4) into a tie with Utah State (23-5, 13-4) atop the MW standings, but it was just their second Quad 1 victory in six such opportunities.
SDSU’s next two games are both Quad 1 chances, at New Mexico on Saturday and then at Boise State on Tuesday night.
The win lifted the Aztecs only one spot in the NCAA NET Rankings, to No. 43. Those rankings are used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee as the primary sorting tool for selection and seeding for March Madness.
SDSU’s resume for earning an at-large berth has been on shaky ground all season, and was seriously damaged last week when the Aztecs lost at home to Grand Canyon and were then routed at Colorado State, both Quad 2 games.
SDSU’s best bet to assure a trip to March Madness for the sixth straight season is to win the MW tournament in Las Vegas and claim the automatic bid. That requires winning three games in as many days, and perhaps a third showdown against the Aggies, who beat the Aztecs 71-66 in Logan on Jan. 31.
Lunardi now has Utah State projected as an at-large team, but still with the No. 7 seed in the East, facing No. 10 Texas A&M in a first-round game in St. Louis.
New Mexico (21-7, 12-5), lurking just a game behind SDSU and USU, has dropped from the Last Four In at No. 68 to the First Four Out at No. 70.
The Aztecs were the unanimous preseason pick to win the MW regular-season title in their final season in the league before moving into the Pac-12 along with Utah State, Boise State, Fresno State and Colorado State.
Saturday’s game at New Mexico is set to tip off at 11 a.m. PT and will air on CBS.
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