Proposal for safe parking site in City Heights advances

The discomfort of sleeping in a car, the worry about danger on the street, and the lack of access to basic amenities. These are the struggles many families with school-aged children across San Diego are facing.

On Tuesday, the San Diego Unified School District Board of Trustees voted to approve a license agreement with the San Diego Housing Commission to operate a safe parking space at the site of the former Central Elementary School in City Heights.

“Now, imagine you’re 6, 7 years old and you don’t know where you’re going to sleep, or you barely got any sleep, or were kind of sleeping with one eye open because you were afraid,” said Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera.

It’s a situation with which he is all too familiar.

“So childhood, we had housing instability. Sometimes it was hotel rooms, sometimes it was family members' couches,” said Elo-Rivera.

His firsthand experience gave him a unique perspective and motivated him to take action when funding was uncertain – pushing for prioritization of a safe parking space for families.

“We refused to give up until the last moment of the budget,” said Elo-Rivera.

“So the City Council is allocating about half the funding for the program itself, and then the other half is coming from funds that the housing commission and the regional task force on homelessness have available,” said Richard Barrera, San Diego Unified School Board Vice President.

A grand total of nearly $600,000 would fund the program through mid-November 2026.

The San Diego Housing Commission Board will consider the contract with Jewish Family Service of San Diego to operate the program on November 7. 

If the contract is approved, the site will also have services to help families get back on track, hosting up to 50 families per night.

“On a typical night, it’s about 50 of our families that are in search of a safe place to park,” said Barrera.

“You know, I just think about being able to have those moms and their kids be in a safe place on the holidays being especially important and we’re motivated to do whatever we can to make that happen,” said Councilmember Elo-Rivera.

Councilmember Elo-Rivera says he hopes this site will host families by Thanksgiving.