San Diego announced plans to close the emergency homeless shelter at the convention center, nearly a year after the cavernous downtown venue was converted into a socially distanced refuge during the first months of COVID-19.
City officials said Operation Shelter to Home had served more than 4,000 people. Nearly 1,300 individuals and 43 families moved into permanent or longer-term housing while the program was operating.
The wind-down shifted residents toward smaller shelters and other placements. It also left the city with a lasting lesson: bringing agencies and service providers under one roof could shorten the path from the street to housing.