Father Joe’s Villages had hoped to break ground this year. The nonprofit wants to build a pair of affordable housing complexes downtown that would each hold more than 100 apartments, and leaders had applied for a multimillion-dollar federal grant to help cover one building’s construction costs. Yet because funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, increasingly appears to be less than a sure thing, Father Joe’s is now waiting to put shovels in the ground until at least next year. “I’m hoping that this will be resurrected somehow,” Deacon Jim Vargas, the group’s president and CEO, said about the grant. “But the reality is that right now we’ve been told that’s not going through.” Homelessness funding has always been a moving target. The state of California creates a new budget for the crisis every year, making it difficult for service organizations to plan long-term, while the San Diego City Council is considering overhauling spending amid a budget deficit. Nonetheless, ever-shifting directives from the White House — including at least a temporary freeze on tens of millions of dollars that Congress had set aside to quickly get people off the street — has made government aid especially unreliable. Federal dollars play a major role in how area leaders address homelessness. San Diego currently spends $95 million-plus from the federal government just on housing vouchers, which amounts to more than 40% of the city’s entire homelessness budget. Even if that pot of money isn’t touched, potential staffing cuts at HUD and other agencies could make it harder to distribute and monitor the funds. Is there any good news? Private donations, at least, have increased in recent years, and a number of local projects that rely heavily on philanthropy remain on track. The Salvation Army just finished raising about $86 million to build a massive complex in downtown San Diego. The structure will be called The Rady Center, named after contributors Ernest and Evelyn Rady, and should have more than 100 shelter beds as well as a health clinic, an updated food pantry and permanent housing for low-income residents, staffers said. The center will replace the organization’s existing two-story building at the site. Gentry Jeffries, a member of The Salvation Army, credited church programs with getting him off the street. “This campus really provided that kick for me to continue my recovery,” he said. “I think this is a great opportunity for anybody that’s homeless who really, really wants to change.” The Salvation Army Centre City Corps complex will be rebuilt with more services for homeless residents. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) Then there’s the nonprofit Townspeople, which in late 2023 launched a program to help homeless residents find roommates. Melissa Peterman, Townspeople’s executive director, noted that San Diego’s rental market is packed with expensive, multi-bedroom units. “I can’t afford housing on my own,” she said. Why not pair people up? The effort has so far housed 136 individuals, including 18 kids, according to the organization. Staffers generally relied on units owned by others until Peterman got a call from a leader of the Jewish Community Foundation who said a donor was willing to buy Townspeople a house. The nonprofit ended up purchasing a two-bedroom home in San Diego’s El Cerrito neighborhood, and two men moved in Tuesday. The property should be able to accommodate more once the garage is converted into an accessory dwelling unit and a pre-made tiny home is installed in the back. “Whoever they are, we are grateful,” Peterman said about the donor. The fate of another philanthropic initiative is more uncertain. In early 2024, Mayor Todd Gloria announced an effort called “San Diegans Together Tackling Homelessness” that aimed to raise hundreds of millions of dollars. “I hope San Diegans who have the means to step up and help will provide some of the fuel for our efforts,” Gloria said during a state of the city address. More than a year later, the haul stands at about $1.3 million. And the person who’d been leading the initiative, former Chief Operating Officer Eric Dargan, was fired. (He’s now suing the city, alleging discrimination.) In recent days, the fundraising campaign was taken over by Steve Cushman, a San Diego businessman and Housing Commission board member. “It’s a work in progress,” Cushman said. While he wants to add or subtract one position from the 10-member advisory board, thereby ensuring that votes won’t end in a tie, Cushman is holding off on other potential changes until he can meet with the mayor to discuss the overall vision. Cushman is also involved with several charitable foundations and believes those groups should consider devoting more resources to homelessness. “Philanthropy is gonna have to step up,” he said. That shift may depend on the health of the economy. Tariffs could affect residents’ ability to donate, although donors at the moment don’t seem to be running for the hills, said Drew Moser, executive director of The Lucky Duck Foundation, one of the region’s most prominent homelessness fundraising organizations. The group was recently able to give almost $690,000 to the San Diego College of Continuing Education for a job training program. “We haven’t received any 911 calls yet, so to speak, from homeless service providers that are in dire need of funding,” Moser said. “That said, even if we did, I’m not confident that philanthropy is poised to backfill for the loss of federal funding.” Other nonprofit leaders and advocates for homeless people agreed: Losing large amounts of government aid could be catastrophic for thousands of vulnerable people. “If we’re not able to reach out and help these individuals,” said Vargas, the leader of Father Joe’s, “they’re not only going to suffer, but they’re going to be out there on the streets, and that’s not going to be good for the community.” The nonprofit does receive many donations and aims to start building the two affordable housing complexes in the first half of 2026. One will be at the intersection of Commercial and 17th streets and construction should cost $69.5 million, according to spokesperson Arturo Garcia Sierra. The second is at 16th Street and Island Avenue and comes with a $65 million price tag. The hoped-for federal grant would have been worth $7.5 million. Leaders believe monthly rents will range from $750 to $1,100. The projects’ operating costs are still being worked out. ...read more read less