On July 14, the city of Chula Vista held a groundbreaking for South Bay’s first shelter to support unsheltered individuals. The Chula Vista Bridge Shelter will utilize pre-fabricated pallet homes that can accommodate a single, couple or four-member families, with 66 housing units and two multi-purpose rooms to be installed at a city-owned parcel at 205 27th Street. Development of the site also includes installation of restrooms, showers and a laundry facility. The Shelter is scheduled to open in late fall this year. City Net, a nonprofit working to break the cycle of homelessness in communities will be the Bridge Shelter operator.
City Net Executive Director Brad Fieldhouse said City Net is the selected provider and will operate the facility once it opens.
“It is going to be a non-congregate emergency shelter,” he said. “The idea is, as various teams are out in the field talking to individuals, the goal would be to offer this as a place for individuals to exit the streets. It is a dignified way to get themselves settled in a community.”
Fieldhouse said its teams will work with what is called “document readiness,” essentially getting all their medical records, doctors, housing, license, all the paperwork necessary to secure housing for whatever services they would require.
“Whether it is job skill training, potentially rehab, whatever their issues are that they would like to work with us on,” he said. “Our goal is to get them housed. From the shelter as a bridge to somewhere that is not a shelter because it is an emergency bridge shelter.”
Once it opens, Fieldhouse said if people want to know how to get involved, they can send an email to getinvolved@citynet.org.
“If people want to serve meals, provide haircuts, or people with ideas, we would love to talk to them about it. If people are interested in the ways they can support this shelter in any way, shape, or form, email us and let us know that you want to get involved when the Chula Vista shelter opens.”
By identifying and leveraging available grant funds, the city is ensuring it has sufficient funding for development, purchase of the units, and ongoing operational costs of the shelter. This creates no impact to the City’s general fund.
