Any approach to ending the homelessness crisis in San Diego must be rooted in both proven solutions and a willingness to meet every neighbor in need where they are.

For one group of people experiencing homelessness, a critical piece of care to help them reorient their life is severely lacking in San Diego. Substance use treatment is increasingly difficult to obtain, and with the spread of fentanyl, the need has become even more urgent.

Once alcohol, opioids or other drugs have an unmitigated hold on your life, you can lose everything. It’s easy to teeter from housed to unhoused if substances take control.  And, the longer you are on the streets, the odds of regaining your footing become slimmer.

People living with substance use disorder often receive the least amount of compassion and are the population group with the least amount of care options. Detox provides a place to safely withdraw from opioids or other substances while receiving access to medical care and support services.

In San Diego County, there are only 78 detox beds to service its population of millions. The waitlist for one of these beds can be weeks long. And none of these beds are oriented to people experiencing homelessness.

Father Joe’s Villages’ outreach workers witness again and again people seeking care that simply does not exist. It is heartbreaking to hear someone say, “I am ready, right now, to enter treatment,” and know they are very unlikely to find a substance use treatment bed. Even more disheartening, we know that if we do not capture that person’s resolve immediately, we lose a critical moment. They may not be ready – or even alive – tomorrow. All we can do is pray they live for one more day and hope they will be ready and have access to care then.

Starting in 2019, San Diego began seeing an increase in deaths among people experiencing homelessness – a trend that has not let up. Fentanyl is a direct contributor to this rise. In 2018, the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office found fentanyl was linked to six overdose cases. By 2022, that number was 269. That’s a 4,383 percent increase in four years — a clear public health crisis.

We know that addiction is surmountable. At Father Joe’s Villages, we provide substance use treatment at our Federally Qualified Health Center. Our teams of psychiatrists, alcohol and other drug counselors, outreach workers, physicians and peer support specialists work with people every single day to address their substance use and provide a pathway to self-sufficiency.

In reality, what we are providing is not enough. We cannot expect people to enter and maintain recovery while living on the streets, where access to drugs is immediate and access to support is minimal or nonexistent.

This is why Father Joe’s Villages is embarking on an important addition to the services we offer. We are building the region’s largest detox and sober living shelter for people experiencing homelessness.

Our new facility will have 45 detox beds, so people who need support withdrawing from opioids or other substances can do so in a safe place with the support of healthcare staff and specialized counselors connected to the facility. In addition to providing medically necessary treatment beds, we will also build a recovery and sober living shelter that will serve nearly 250 people in the same building.

Our vision is a self-contained ecosystem at Father Joe’s Villages where people can access a plethora of behavioral health treatment, employment services, and live in a safe, supportive environment as they transition out of homelessness and substance use.

This entire project needs the support and generosity of all San Diegans. The detox and sober living facility will cost $1.5 million dollars to build, and will be funded solely by donors. As we enter our 75th year, we believe in the compassion of our community that has always seen the positive impact we have on the many we have been blessed to serve.

Many have become desensitized to homelessness. Some may have even stopped seeing unhoused neighbors as people – forgetting that they are our brothers and sisters, children, and even parents or grandparents. Each story that led to a person’s homelessness is unique, and the solutions to helping them out of homelessness are as complex and varied.

So, I ask all San Diegans to remember that as you walk the streets of our community and see someone struggling, know that many of them want help. But, for many, the help and care does not exist.

I hope you join us in being part of the solution.

Vargas is president and CEO at Father Joe’s Villages and lives in La Jolla.