A notorious stretch of the San Diego River known locally as "the island" has been cleared, and city officials say the work is paying off in a big way. After months of targeted outreach, 59 people who once lived along the riverbed have moved into permanent housing, and more than 40 others are now enrolled in shelter programs. The effort followed a coordinated cleanup that hauled roughly 78 tons of trash and debris out of the riverbed near Interstate 5 and Old Sea World Drive. City staff and outreach partners say the area has stayed free of encampments since the operation wrapped.
Officials mark progress after a year of outreach
City leaders recently gathered at the river to highlight the results and the outreach teams who put in the daily casework, as reported by ABC 10News. Ketra Carter of the city's Homeless Strategies & Solutions Department told ABC 10News that getting 59 people into permanent housing and about 40 enrolled in sheltering programs shows what steady engagement can do. "At the end of the day, to know 59 individuals are in permanent housing... it makes me giddy every time I look at it," she said.
Funding, partners and how outreach worked
The campaign was backed by a California Encampment Resolution Funding (ERF) grant the city secured in 2023 alongside the County of San Diego, and the city brought in outreach providers to offer on-site case management and mobile medical care, according to the City of San Diego. Officials say contracted partners included People Assisting the Homeless (PATH San Diego), Healthcare in Action and NAMI San Diego, who were tasked with meeting people where they were and steadily connecting them to services.
Cleanup totals and new patrols
Crews removed about 78 tons of trash and debris from the island area and collected hazardous material during the clearing operation, according to NBC 7 San Diego. To keep it from sliding back to its old state, the Parks and Recreation budget added two Park Ranger positions for Fiscal Year 2025 to patrol the San Diego River Valley. Volunteer groups and the San Diego River Park Foundation have also kept up periodic cleanups to help maintain the corridor.
From the riverbed to a home
Earlier this fall, city reporting followed Michael Hook, a longtime riverbed resident who said PATH outreach and a resource fair linked him to detox, job training and eventually a permanent apartment, per the City of San Diego. Officials point to his story as a concrete example of what the program set out to do: use persistent on-site engagement to move people from the riverbed into stable housing.
What comes next along the river
Officials say outreach teams will now continue their work farther up the riverbed and that similar targeted efforts are planned for other stretches of the corridor. Local reporting has noted that the river area remains a pressure point where enforcement activity or storms can push people down into the channel, according to KPBS. City and nonprofit leaders say the only way to keep encampments from re-forming and to hold on to the gains already made is to sustain funding, housing placements and outreach capacity along the river.
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