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The San Diego Convention Center officially became the city’s newest emergency shelter on Wednesday, a move that aims to slow the spread of COVID-19 among homeless San Diegans.
The doors opened a day after county officials announced that three sheltered individuals had tested positive for COVID-19, the first known cases to involve homeless San Diegans.
People currently living in two of the city’s bridge shelters will be the first to move in.
“I’m glad that we can use this community asset to serve our neighbors in need,” said Rip Rippetoe, president of the San Diego Convention Center.
The decision to re-purpose the convention center — dubbed “Operation Shelter to Home” — was announced last week.
With the extra space the center will provide, city officials and shelter workers will be able to better space homeless individuals, ensuring social-distancing guidelines are adhered to. It will also allow the city to convert its existing bridge shelters into locations that provide health screenings and other services to people living outdoors.
Bob McElroy, president of Alpha Project, said 260 men and 170 women from the city’s bridge shelters will be bused to the convention center throughout Wednesday.
Each person can take two bins for personal items that will fit under their cots. Larger overflow bins will remain at the bridge shelter sites, and people will be shuttled back if they need to retrieve something.
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