The recently approved Welcome Home Village Project will provide dozens of housing units for the homeless in an area off Johnson Avenue in San Luis Obispo.
“This housing thing will be great, honestly, because before this we were thinking of just leaving,” Scott Davis, who is homeless in San Luis Obispo, said.
Davis and partner Jennifer Weeden have been living on the streets for a couple of years but say they haven't given up hope.
“I want to drive a car, go to work, and be able to go home,” Davis said.
“I want to give our light and energy to the community and be a part of it, not in the ditch,” Weeden said.
The Welcome Home Village Project aims to reduce homelessness specifically along the Bob Jones Trail, which county officials say is the largest homeless encampment in the city.
The first step will be around four to six months of outreach.
“Going out to these encampment areas, talking to people and building trust and making sure they have access to the resources and services they need to be successful as they transition into their next step,” Suzie Freeman, San Luis Obispo County Homeless Services Division Communications Program Manager, said.
The county is working with the city and Good Samaritan Shelters to help connect people with services.
“We want to make sure everything is individualized and specialized for every person's journey,” Freeman said.
The Welcome Home Project will include 46 permanent residential housing units and 34 interim residential housing units.
To be placed in the Welcome Home Village, each person will go through an interview and need to be actively participating in case management.
“It's really hard to find a way off the streets. There's not a lot of opportunity,” Davis said.
Now with a new housing development coming to San Luis Obispo, Davis and Weeden say they have hope for the first time in a while.
“We have high hopes for that. We're willing to work and get our lives together. We haven't been homeless for that long, we just hit hard times,” Davis said.
Outreach at the encampment will begin later this year. Construction on the Welcome Home Village is expected to start in the fall.
