Father Joe’s Villages, a San Diego nonprofit that provides services and housing to homeless people, unveiled 33 affordable studio apartments at its complex in the East Village on Monday.
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The studios range in size from 500 to 600 square feet according to Father Joe’s, and will cost its occupants approximately $850 per month in rent. The recently renovated units are furnished with a microwave, refrigerator, closet, dresser, light fixtures, accessories and laminate hardwood floors.
All 33 units were spoken for before they were even ready, said Father Joe’s President and CEO Jim Vargas. Move-ins have begun and are expected to be complete by mid-November.
Father Joe’s representatives said all of its housing resources, whether temporary or permanent, are almost always at full capacity. The new units are filled with 19 women and 14 men who were referred from other programs.
“It just shows you the need is there and this fills that need,” said Vargas.
The organization’s leaders said studio apartments, what they call “single-room occupancy” units, were plenty a decade ago, but have dwindled. With it, they said, came fewer options for those looking for a place to live.
As housing and rental costs rise in San Diego, Father Joe’s believes the $850 price tag for a recently renovated studio downtown is within reach of those they serve. Rent for a similar unit in San Diego, according to the organization, is more than double that amount.
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The housing crisis comes amid the state and federal governments’ fiscal belt tightening, particularly for housing and homelessness. Several organizations across the county are bracing for the end of one-time grants and other sources of income relied upon for a better part of this decade.
Father Joe’s is feeling those cuts and has recently taken on responsibilities once held by the city or county. To the outcry of its supporters, the city-funded Neil Good Day Center announced in June that it would close its doors by the end of the year. Father Joe’s is renovating part of its campus at 15th and Imperial to accommodate the loss.
“This is one of the creative solutions of Father Joe’s pivoting to help impact the loss in federal funding and program support… and then finding a creative way for ending someone’s homelessness, which is a home,” said Joshua Bohannan, Father Joe’s chief strategy officer. “This is where people may spend the rest of their lives.”
The 33 studio apartments were funded by Father Joe’s through philanthropic donations, according to its president and CEO, who added the new units will not be subsidized by any type of rental voucher program. The 33 new apartments are in addition to more than 40 single-occupancy rooms that are already in place at the building on 15th and Commercial, Bohannan said.
Residents of the new units will have access to all of the campus’ resources, including its health clinic, childcare center and employment education center.
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