Profile: HomeAid San Diego

HomeAid San Diego: The Power to Change Lives

"The capacity to care defines the best of who and what we are in communities. In that spirit, HomeAid San Diego has forged a partnership of builders, care providers, community leaders and donors. We build shelters for the temporarily homeless and in doing so, we help people begin new lives."

The Face of Homelessness

Homelessness is epidemic in San Diego. An estimated 10,000-15,000 people are without a home on any given night in our county. Nearly one-third of foster children become homeless in the 12-months after emancipation. The numbers are staggering, but the faces of the homeless are much like those belonging to you and me.

The homeless are women with young children or youth suddenly without foster parents. They are men and women unexpectedly laid off from jobs or overwhelmed by catastrophic medical bills. They are spouses abandoned in divorce or suffering from domestic violence. They are people struggling to recover from illness or injury. They are the temporarily homeless who need opportunities for new beginnings.

Since our founding in 2002 as a non-profit organization sponsored by the San Diego Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, HomeAid San Diego has joined a national network of chapters to achieve one goal. We fight homelessness by bringing together builders, community leaders, trade partners, donors, volunteers and non-profit professional care providers. We galvanize people and organize resources to build transitional housing and shelters for men, women and children who are temporarily without a home.

Under the leadership of Builder Captains, HomeAid San Diego develops projects with the support of trade partners and volunteers. Once they are completed, non-profit professional care providers own and operate each project and utilize the facilities to provide services that help residents regain strength and purpose in a safe environment. Our goal – bring the fire of hope and pragmatic opportunities to individuals and families as they seek to restore their lives.

In just a few years, HomeAid San Diego has built six projects with outstanding builders acting as Builder Captains and hundreds of local companies donating critical materials and services. These projects provide more than 45,000 bed nights each year in San Diego County. The total retail value of construction for these six projects exceeds $2,000,000. Of this, 89% was donated by our Builder Captains and their trade partners.

History of HomeAid San Diego

Working Together: Builders, Community and Care Providers

Since our founding in March 2002, HomeAid San Diego has completed two projects for emancipated foster youth, two projects for women with children who have been victimized by domestic abuse, one project for women over 50 and one for veterans, seniors and disabled persons. Our care provider partners are outstanding and reflect the diversity of our County, it creativity and its caring. Each of our care providers is carefully evaluated to determine that each project will be well maintained and used for programs that has demonstrated success in supporting its clients in restoring their lives. We are proud to partner with the following outstanding care providers:

Catholic Charities
Child Abuse Prevention Foundation
Community Resource Center
Interfaith Community Services
South Bay Community Services
Sullivan’s Group Homes
YMCA Youth & Family Services

Our projects change lives and enhance the neighborhood in which they are located. In almost all cases, our completed projects are the highest quality and best maintained properties in their neighborhood, often after being among the most in need of repair. Our Builder Captains consistently provide a higher quality completed project than requested or anticipated by our care provider partners. The success of HomeAid San Diego is due to the generosity and skill of our Builder Captains and trade partners, the caring and passion of our local non-profit care providers and the financial support of our Annual and Sustaining Sponsors and the commitment of our volunteers, particularly our all-volunteer Board of Directors.

We currently have six projects in all stages of pre-development and continue to accept assistance requests.

Mark Read
HomeAid San Diego Board President &
Senior Managing Director, CB Richard Ellis