At a press conference today, San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer discussed a landlord incentive program and urged area rental property owners to house homeless.
Launched as the Housing Our Heroes program in 2016, the social initiative expanded helping only military veterans to an all-inclusive system in 2017. Now known as LEAP, the Landlord Engagement and Assistance Program, the program has assisted in housing more than 3,300 homeless individuals and families.
The San Diego Housing Commission will assist in advancing the program. Over the past month, the San Diego Convention Center has been converted into a homeless shelter and more than 800 people have been moved into the building which may be expanded to have up to 1,500 cots. The City of San Diego began offering complimentary and voluntary on-site testing for shelter residents last week. Fourteen individuals at the convention center have been housed through a collaborative San Diego regional effort dubbed Operation Shelter to Home.
Fifteen new COVID-19 related deaths were announced today, which is a record high for San Diego since the pandemic was identified. Today, the city opened some parks on a limited basis with strict social distancing required and enforced.
For more information about the Landlord Engagement and Assistance Program (LEAP), visit sdhc.org/doing-business-with-us/landlords/landlord-engagement-and-assistance-program-leap.
This is a developing story: We will update this post as we learn more.
