LEMON GROVE, CA – Lemon Grove has experienced a dramatic 85% increase in its unsheltered population, according to the 2024 Regional Task Force on Homeless’ Point in Time Count data, marking the largest increase in East County and the third largest in San Diego County.
The city, grappling with the surge, announced Tuesday that it has been awarded an $8.4 million Encampment Resolution Funding grant from the state of California. The grant is earmarked for the rapid rehousing of approximately 150 unsheltered individuals living in encampments along State Route 94 and North Avenue.
“This grant will help the city provide services and support for people experiencing homelessness and encampments, resulting in meaningful pathways to stable and permanent housing,” said Lemon Grove Mayor Alysson Snow.
The Regional Task Force on Homelessness (RTFH) will oversee the program, with CEO Tamera Koehler pledging that “no less than 85% of that funding” will be dedicated to outreach, engagement, rental subsidies, intensive care management, landlord engagement, housing retention services, and supports for housing stability.
Koehler stressed the importance of wrap-around services, including behavioral, mental health, addiction, employment, and family support, for successful housing retention.
Mayor Snow indicated that housing for the program already exists within the community. “This is not a community of NIMBYs. This is a community of people who care. A community of people who go, ‘But for the grace go I.’ This encampment resolution program is not a handout. It’s a hand up,” Snow stated.
The grant funds are expected to be disbursed within the next 90 days, and the city and RTFH will have two years to utilize the funding once the grant is executed.
