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Addressing Homelessness in San Diego: Past, Present and Future
June 1, 2017 at 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm
As of 2016, San Diego had the fourth largest homeless population in the nation, only behind New York City, Los Angeles, and Seattle. Recent figures from this year indicated that the population has increased with a staggering number of people living unsheltered. The panel will provide an overview of the history of addressing the homeless crisis in San Diego, best practices at the national level, and the current local landscape along with challenges.
Presenters:
Jennifer LeSar – President and CEO, LeSar Development Consultants – With more than 25 years of experience in the real estate development and investment banking industries, Jennifer LeSar brings a diverse background to her work in community development and urban revitalization.
Kris Kuntz – Senior Associate, LeSar Development Consultants – Kris Kuntz specializes in developing creative approaches to addressing homelessness and housing issues. In his prior position with Father Joe’s Villages, he spent several years managing the housing and social service programs, then supported the agency with planning and evaluation activities. He collected data and performed analysis on San Diego’s chronically homeless frequent user effort, Project 25, and worked with several Managed Care Organizations to expand the program using Medicaid dollars. He also has been the community lead in partnership with the Corporation for Supportive Housing for San Diego’s SSI/SSDI Outreach Access and Recovery (SOAR) model.
Rick Gentry – President and CEO, San Diego Housing Commission – Richard C. Gentry has served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC) since September 19, 2008. With more than 300 employees and an annual operating revenue budget of $252 million, SDHC serves low-income residents in the city of San Diego.
As a leading partner in addressing homelessness in our city, SDHC developed HOUSING FIRST – SAN DIEGO, SDHC’s three-year Homelessness Action Plan (2014-17), which is an effective, diverse funding and housing strategy that is on target to impact the lives of close to 3,000 homeless San Diegans—Veterans, families and individuals in the city of San Diego. This far exceeds its initial goal of 1,500 homeless San Diegans. HOUSING FIRST – SAN DIEGO includes the Housing Our Heroes initiative to provide housing opportunities to help up to 1,000 homeless Veterans get off the streets.
